


A Machine Between Worlds

by HiroNinja



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-23 08:57:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 41,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14931195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiroNinja/pseuds/HiroNinja
Summary: Sword Art Online; a fictional virtual-reality experience that resulted in a death game involving over 10,000 unaware players.In real life, it is just a story. Entertainment in the forms of novels, manga, and anime.However, with Dive technology finally being implemented in the real world, one unlucky soul will find themselves trapped in the very same world of swords with the threat of death lingering over their heads.Is everyone just an NPC? Or can friendship actually grow when only one person truly exists in the real world.





	1. Chapter 1: License to Dive

**Chapter 1: License to Dive**

 

“You dragged me to your lab this late to do what again?” I let out a yawn from my reversed sitting position in the office chair. 

Honestly, important news could never happen during the middle of the day, could it?

The small warehouse-like room was filled with computers and machinery that rose to the ceiling, and I bet the power bill for this room alone cost more than my entire monthly paycheck. Maybe I shouldn’t have passed up the offer to work here as an assistant...

My sister pushed her glasses up her face with an exasperated sigh, “I already told you twice on the way over here!” She shoved the pen she was holding in my direction, “But you decided to fall asleep in the passenger seat, remember?”

Eila was my twin sister, but we were nothing alike. She got the brains, I got the reflexes. She liked tea, I liked coffee. I could go on, but at least we shared a similarity in our hobby of being complete nerds. 

I groaned, “Cut me a break. You expect me to be wide awake at this hour?”

“No. But I expect you to be excited over my work for once.” Eila continued to move between consoles, her long brown hair flowing this way and that from the quick movements. The white lab coat she wore, an old relic of the past, was once used as a costume. 

It suited her nicely, and hung down to her knees as she wrote on her clipboard before walking up to me. “Alright. Shirt off, mister.” 

“Uwaah?!” My eyes shot open and I nearly fell off the chair in surprise, “E-Excuse me?!”

“The monitoring nodes need to be directly attached to your skin, baka.” She waved a fistful of wires with what almost looked like suction cups on the end. 

“Hey, I'm not an idiot!” I stood to my feet and brought my face right in front of my sisters. She just smirked, unfazed, holding the long cords in her hand in emphasis..

“Oh look, you actually did learn some Japanese after all.”

I stepped back and crossed my arms, looking away. I was nearly a head taller, so it was a noticeable difference. “I told you I was going to.”

“Oh really…”

“YEAH! REALLY!” I glared down at her. I had really only memorized a handful of phrases and words, namely the basics and a few curses. Because, that's really the first thing everyone tries to learn in a new language.

I rubbed my eyes, “Look, can we get on with this? It may be a Friday night, but I'm exhausted and REALLY need some sleep.”

Eila shrugged, “Sure thing. Now take your shirt off. It's not like we didn't go swimming together growing up or something.” She walked over and began plugging the ends of the nodes into another machine near a table. I reluctantly tugged off my red jacket and black tee, throwing them on the office chair before following my sister.

“Here, lay down and hold still.” She motioned towards the table. There were wheels on the legs of it, so it may have been a gurney or something. Whatever, same ship, different sails. I laid down.

“I'm not having surgery done on me or anything, right?”

“Nope.”

I rose an eyebrow, “No needles or knives?”

“NO!” She slapped her hand down on my exposed chest, causing me to sputter. “What do you think I am? A mad scientist? Don't answer that.” She added before I could respond.

She began placing the nodes along my sore chest and abdomen, letting them stick to my skin.

Eila let out a sigh, “I guess I can give you the abridged version since you fell asleep last time.” She glared at me as she said that before continuing, “Basically, my lab has finished developing the prototype for FullDive technology. It’s already been tested and I’ve been put in charge of administering trials to ensure it functions properly. Soooooo, we're going to put your mind inside of the anime, Sword Art Online, and see what happens.”

“Are you crazy?!” I sat up abruptly, “Even if you could do that, why would you pick THAT anime? Isn’t this thing supposed to be for games anyway?” Don't get me wrong, I loved the anime, and I loved most of the characters, but I did not want to die. 

That was sort of a major problem in that world.

Eila just waved her hand at me, “It's no big deal. Like I said, we've already tested the machine on a handful of video games already and it worked fine! You have no idea how much fun flying the Gummi Ship with Sora and friends was~!” Her eyes sparkled at the memory.

“Wait a minute.” My eyes went wide, “You went into Kingdom Hearts?!”

She smiled and held up her fingers, “One AND two~!”

I stared in awe as I rethought my stance on the dive. Kingdom Hearts was our favorite game growing up, and I quickly laid down with newfound motivation. “Alright, but after this, I want to go there next.”

“That can be arranged!” She sang and continued preparing the test. “To answer your previous question, we chose the anime SAO because it's centered around a video game, so the data we've collected so far might help with the dive synchronization and…” She paused.

“And?”

A small smile appeared on her face. “And I figured you’d be more cooperative if it was a series you liked.” 

I thought over what she said and shrugged, “Well… you only half wrong. As long as I’m in no danger of dying, right?”

“Of course not! You’ll be perfectly safe.” At that, Eila maneuvered the table to that my head was placed within a small orifice in one of the larger machines. “I’ve already taken the liberty of creating your custom avatar for the dive.” Eila’s voice played over a set of speakers near my head. “I used one of your usual RPG aliases to keep things relatively simple. Well… simple enough for some kid with brown and red hair anyways.”

I raised an unseen eyebrow, “You gave me Hiro? That’s actually very considerate of you.”

“Yeah, yeah…whatever.” I could practically feel her rolling her eyes at me. “I preset all of your settings as well. Right handed, balanced starting stats, full English translation, blah blah blah…” 

“Great. Straight to the action then!” I grinned excitedly.

“Alrighty~ Now just sit tight and I’ll start the load-up and countdown.”

I was startled as the machine placed a visor over my face, dimly glowing with a low hum. I could hear the sounds of a keyboard nearby being used rapidly as my genius sister prepared to send me to the virtual world of Aincrad, all the while I found that I was extremely nervous. 

Would this work just like in the anime? The device did seem reminisce of a large-scale version of the nerve-gear, so it was highly likely to be the case. I took a deep breath as a countdown appeared on the visor.

“Alright, fifty seconds until synchronization. How do you feel?” Eila asked, still speaking through the speaker next to me.

“Nervous.” I chuckled, “Though, I suppose it’s too late to back out now though.”

“Heehee, you’d be correct.” There was a pause, “Don’t worry, I’ll be monitoring your body and mind while you’re inside, so you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

I shifted around slightly, “Any tips you can give me?”

“Yeah, don’t stay in the dive for too long. Trust me, readjusting to your body gets harder the longer you stay in.”

I let out a weak chuckle, “Hehe… Good to know.”

 

**_*WRRROOOOOR!!! WRRROOOOOR!!! WRRROOOOOR!!! WRRROOOOOR!!!--- *_ **

 

A loud siren tore through the lab, shaking us from our conversation. 

I could see red lights flashing from my peripheral vision in time with the sound, whatever had caused it did not sit well in my mind.

“Eila?! What the- what’s happening?!” I cried out. I could hear my sister running to separate consoles assessing the situation, occasionally typing on a keyboard before moving on.

“No. No, no, NO, NONONONONO!!!” I could hear the panic in her voice increase clearly from back in the room, it was no longer coming over the speakers. “Something’s happening! My system access is being denied!”

I tilted my head up to try and get a look, but couldn’t see much more than the ends of my feet and the far wall. “Denied?! By what?! It’s your Machine!!”

“If I knew that I would have fixed it by now but it’s almost like it’s getting worse as-” her voice trailed off.

I gulped, “...as?”

“Take the visor off! NOW!!” Eila screamed.

The command was received without room for rebuttal and I moved to reach for the visor…

...except I could barely move my hands, let alone the arms they were attached to.

“I-I can’t move!!!” I attempted to rock my entire body around with little success, really only managing to shake my head back and forth a bit.

Twenty seconds...

“Frick! The sync is too far complete. The signals from your mind are already being taken by the machine. You’re about to dive.” 

Fifteen seconds...

My head started to feel much heavier as the counter grew closer to zero, eventually becoming too much for me to hold up before long. I was now unable to move.

“Eila... I can’t move my body!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to solve the issue out here while you’re inside. Just... Be careful, okay? Whatever’s happening to the machine might have inadvertently  affected the synchronization in some way.”

Five…

“Just remember. Nothing in that world is real!”

Four, three…

“I’ll fix this and get you out, I promise!”

Two, one…

_ “*Link Start.*” _

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

The blaring siren and chaos of the lab was replaced by silence in an instant as the feeling of nothingness engulfed my senses. It almost felt as though I was falling, but in more of an upward direction instead of the usual downward one.

The journey through darkness seemed to last forever, and at the same time passed quickly as I soon found myself laying on my back with the sound of wind blowing around me. 

I didn’t move immediately, instead choosing to stare at the tree leaves above me for a few minutes.

“Ugh.” I eventually gathered myself and stumbled to my feet, rubbing my eyes and trying to shake the dizziness from my head. Doing so, I caught a glimpse of red from between my fingers. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be part of my own head of hair, which was mostly brown with a specific portion of the front being red.

I let out a knowing smile. Only one character would ever have hair like this, and that character was Hiro. My own creation.

I continued to inspect my entire body, finding that everything seemed to be just as I designed it to be, though in place of the usual outfit I would draw Hiro in, I was instead wearing the standard beginner garb of Sword Art Online. Black pants, a crimson colored shirt, and a brown beginner’s armor and belt.

“This is too cool.” I waved my hand in front of me like they did in the anime, and sure enough, a small console opened with all of my settings, stats, and inventory all set up.

I took notice of the missing logout button, proving that this was, indeed, Aincrad. 

AND that the death game had already secured any players currently logged/logging in. Nothing out of the norm here. I was a bit worried about how I was going to get back to the real world though. Er… The REAL real world. Whatever. Back to Eila.

I shook my head and took in my surroundings, finding myself near a trail on a small hill surrounded by wide grasslands and several ‘almost’ floating mesa’s. 

They were ALMOST floating, since each mesa had a tail that coiled down onto the mainland below. I immediately recognized the terrain as the same location from the first episode of the anime, where Kirito and Klein fight against a wild boar.

I wonder why I didn’t appear in town though…

The green grass crunched softly beneath my feet, and I could really feel the clothing formed around my body like it was the real thing. Eila really did a great job with this.

I swiped through my inventory and equipped the <<Iron Sword>> I had there. The blade appeared on my back in its sheathe as I perused the rest of my starting items; a few health potions, a handful of throwing picks, and 100 col to buy items with.

“I guess it’ll have to do for now.” I pulled the weapon out in front of me and gave it a few quick swings, feeling the weight of it in my hand. It wasn’t too heavy, but not exactly light either. Perfect for a starting weapon, but not quite unique enough for my tastes.

I probably should have been more worried about the dive malfunction, but really what was there for me to do? 

Nothing but play the game really.

I let out a sigh and began wandering in a random direction in search of the Town of Beginnings. I really considered the various weapon options I could choose from based on my memory of SAO. An average sword would get me anywhere I wanted to go, sure, but I was never one to take the “normal” route in any game. It’d be a good backup plan though. 

Axes and maces were cool enough, but they never really did it for me either, usually only used for the dual-weapon ability in most games. And if I remembered correctly, the <<Dual Wielding>> skill was only usable by Kirito after getting to floor 60+ or something. So those were out as well.

I guess a rapier would be okay, normally being used by lords or lightweight characters in most games, but the lack of damage they usually dealt was a major drawback. And I was not even considering using a spear. Unless maybe… No. No spears.

I let out another sigh as I tossed the different choices around in my head, being interrupted by a small sound from nearby. Looking over I watched an enemy monster spawn alongside the path I was on. A <<Frenzy Boar>> not unlike the one that Kirito and Klein fought at the beginning of the series.

“Alright!” I smiled and took up a stance with my sword, “Let’s see what we can do here.”

The boar didn’t seem to notice me as I charged in its direction. I had it right where I wanted it.

Unfortunately, even though my attack was a direct hit on its back, the <<Frenzy Boar>> was merely knocked back a few feet, only taking about a quarter of its health away.

“Aww, what?!” I groaned and brought up my sword to block its own charge. The impact caused me to slide back a few feet myself, but I kept myself standing and continued to slice away at the creature. After a few more strikes, the boar let out a cry and promptly shattered into glass-shaped pixels.

I received a victory message with the Exp and Col I had earned, but I was too bummed out at my own lack of strength against the low level monster to care. Thankfully I didn’t take any damage, but the amount of work I had to put in just to defeat it left me feeling less than stellar.

I shook my head and continued along the path. I swung my sword a few more times in an attempt to activate a sword skill of any kind, but I didn’t see any glow in the sword or even a tingle in my arm that would probably accompany its activation. Maybe I should ask someone about it if I get the chance, I bet Eila would’ve known.

I pushed the thought from my head and continued on. I was surprised at the lack of players to be honest. I mean, I knew this world was big and all, but I expected to run into at least SOMEONE along this road.

A few more <<Frenzy Boar>>’s appeared around the grasslands, evenly spaced out for easy Exp hunting. I took a chance at a couple more of the simple mobs and scored another 48 Exp and a handful of Col for my theoretical pocket. 

I made my climb over another small hill as the sun began to descend, leaving the sky in a beautiful orange glow. As I reached the top, the view of an impressively massive town came into view. The Town of Beginnings. I had made it.

“Yeah!” I let out a cheer of victory and began to jog down the hill, only to come to the stop at the sound of a loud bell ringing in the distance. I felt a chill run down my virtual spine.

“Ooohhhhh… shit.” I muttered as the ringing continued. I looked down as I felt an unfamiliar tingle course through my body. A blue light enveloped my body from the ground up as the teleportation command took hold of me, sending me through a realm of nothing but light before depositing me in the town center. 

Once the light disappeared, I nearly dropped to the ground in nausea. Was motion sickness a thing in SAO? Because it sure as hell felt like I was about to lose my lunch.

Once I calmed my stomach, I stood up once more and looked around. Everything was proceeding as normal. Soon Akihiko Kayaba would announce the beginning of the death game and send the growing crowd into a panic. 

I let my mind try and work out the best course of action for me to take based on what I knew. I could either stay here near the Town of Beginnings and work my way up in levels to reach the next town, or I could pull a Kirito and rush to the next town first and risk being underprepared in favor of greater Exp chances. Or, maybe if I could just find Kirito I could convince him to let me tag along with him I could… hmm.

I scrunched my face in uncertainty as the noise from the crowd filled the square. Though, it was strange. Something seemed… off. I looked around and watched as countless unfamiliar faces looked around and conversed amongst each other. I put tried to ignore the strange feeling in my gut but something just didn’t sit right with me…

I eyed a pair of players nearby as the interacted with each other for a few moments before I made a terrible realization. My eyes shot open wide as my mouth fell open in dismay, only for my attention to turn to the sky as the system announcement began to appear above the square.

_ ‘No… There’s no way that…’ _

I waited impatiently as the red form of Kayaba materialized before everyone. I had to hear his words for myself to be sure… The confirmation made my stomach drop.

“Attention, players. Welcome to my world.”

Those were the words I knew from watching the anime. Only that’s not what I heard. The dreadful realization of this world must have been fate’s idea of a sick joke. Because, well…

Everyone was speaking Japanese. 

I could practically hear Eila screaming I-told-you-so’s at me for my lack of learning the language. This whole situation instantly became a hundred times harder with this simple fact. I tried desperately to follow along with the announcement using the memory of the show’s subtitles in my mind’s eye. Damn it, why couldn’t Eila be here right now?!

The announcement continued just as it did before, with Akihiko Kayaba explaining the death penalty and the way to beat the game. This rose the question of whether or not I would be killed as well if I were to run out of HP. I was not about to test that theory though. I choose life.

I racked my brain trying to recall where Kirito and Klein were standing during this, but the anime kept it pretty vague about their location. And with nearly 10,000 players surrounding me, there was no way I would be able to find them. I was on my own.

Soon, the entire courtyard was bathed in a glow of light as players took out the mirrors from their inventory, allowing their real life forms to appear in place of their avatars. Strangely, one did not appear in my inventory. Perhaps being from the real-real world had its perks, allowing me to remain as Hiro and not turn into my normal boring self. 

It was a minor victory I suppose, but I needed to figure out how I was going to even survive in a world I couldn’t communicate in. I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to get home to the real-real world after the problem in the lab. 

Was Eila still trying to fix the problem, or was I on my own in this death game?

I couldn’t so much as help from inside the dive, not that I would be much help outside anyways. The only thing I could really do was try and beat the game, but it would take at least two years to get close to the end of Aincrad. Everything was up to Eila to figure out how to get me home while I simply did my best to survive.

_ ‘Just remember, nothing in that world is real! I’ll fix this and get you out, I promise!’ _

I shook my head, “May the force be with us…”

I turned my attention to the end of Kayaba’s speech, putting my memory to use, “This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck.”

With his final words, Kayaba’s figure dissolved into code, allowing a disheartening silence to spread through the crowd.

“Uh oh…” I needed to move before panic erupted around me.

As quickly as I could I began to dash through the motionless crowd just as a scream broke through the silence, Soon, everyone was rushing about, unsure of what to do. 

I crashed into quite a few people on my way out of the square, but I needed to get out and come up with a plan before everyone swarmed the monster spawning areas. If I worked quickly, I might be able to collect enough Exp from the surrounding grasslands before the larger groups of players began their hunts. At that point, I could hopefully push my way to the next town and repeat the process. 

If I could stay one step ahead of everyone just by a little bit, I could manage to increase my level enough to survive easily.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best plan I had.

I ‘beat-feet’ out the main gates and rushed to the top of the same hill I had climbed not long ago before taking one last look at the Town of Beginnings. I couldn’t see anyone leaving behind me, giving me the head start I wanted for the time being.

I scanned the horizon, locating several <<Frenzy Boar>> and <<Dire Wolf>> monsters wandering the fields. Perfect for a level one scrub such as myself.

Just as I unsheathed my sword to rush down and start gathering Exp, I spotted a single person heading out of the main gates along a separate road. 

I stared off at the solo player with a knowing smile as they sliced through a <<Dire Wolf>> without breaking stride.

“Go get ‘em, Kirito.” I pointed my sword in his direction respectfully. “I’ll catch up to you soon enough, and when I do,” I chuckled, “we won’t be able to understand each other.”

Kirito’s form passed over the opposite hill and out of sight, allowing me to return my attention to my own goals.

“Alright then.” I stretched and popped my neck before sprinting down towards the closest mob, “Let’s see how many of you it takes to level up now! Shall we?”

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**[CROSSING FIELD ~ SAO INTRO 1]**

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

[Hiro_Lvl. 1]

 

{Equipped Weapon}

-Iron Sword

 

{Skills}

-One Handed Sword [1/1000]

-Sprint [1/1000]

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**_Next time on, ’A Machine Between Worlds’..._ **

 

_ “ _ Watashi wa… Hiro… desu. Watashi wa Amerikajin desu. _ ” _

 

“Oh, travellers! What a surprise.”

 

_ “ _ Pardon our intrusion, ma’am. We were simply seeking a place of rest amidst our travels.” _ ” _

 

_ “ _ Hiro-san! _ ” _

 

_ “ _ You want a piece of me you bastards?! _ ” _

 

“Dōtai ni.” 

“Together.”

 

_ [If you’re mad about the whole thing, I understand. But please… _

_ Don’t die.] _

 

**_Next time… ‘Stand aside, Rookie Swordsman here!’_ **

**_...END_ **


	2. Chapter 2: Stand aside, Rookie Swordsman here!

It had been almost a week since I had been sent into Sword Art Online, and every day I expected to wake up back in the lab with Eila worrying over everything that happened and explaining how she managed to get me out.

I guess I shouldn’t get my hopes up over it, whatever caused the malfunction with the Dive Machine must have been much more severe than I first thought. At least I was getting used to daily life inside of the death game.

Well… I guess I was managing about as well as someone who can’t speak with any players can get anyways.

The NPC’s and menu systems were in english, but I could only chalk that up to that being Eila’s work with the language setting. I guess actual people didn’t count, since they all spoke in their native language anyways… How does that even work inside the Dive Machine from the real-real world? Shouldn’t I understand them anyways, or…?

This is making my head hurt… Moving on.

It didn’t take long before the area surrounding the Town of Beginnings was dominated as the main hunting grounds for a majority of players looking to fight back against their virtual prison. After the third day since the start of SAO, it was impossible for me to benefit from staying around the starting city, so I followed my plan and headed towards the next village I could find.

Using my limited map data and my memory of where Kirito planned to go during episode one, I fought my way to Horunka Village.

Ahem… I SLOWLY fought my way towards the village.

It took nearly an entire day of hopeless wandering and fighting off monsters to make it to the small village. And calling it small was pushing it.

The place had maybe ten different buildings and really only one quest to my knowledge. It was the same quest that granted Kirito his <<Anneal Blade>>, and I didn’t feel confident enough to try my hand at it just yet.

Even with the idea of acquiring my very own super-sword, I couldn’t let go of the indecisiveness over what type of weapon I wanted to use. I mean, it’s only one of the most important decision of any MMO ever!

If I spent too long using a weapon type that I wasn’t comfortable with, eventually it would be too late to switch to something I’d rather use!

Maybe I’m just overthinking it. I mean, I could always just sell the sword to an item merchant or melt it down into crafting materials for my own use or something…

I let out a sigh and stood to my feet with a stretch. I had been laying on the soft grass outside of Horunka village for nearly an hour now after fighting off a pack of <<Frenzy Boar>>’s that afternoon. The damn things didn’t even drop a single Cor for me. Cheapskates.

Well, I really should return to the Inn and get some rest, I can always start the quest in the morning if I’m feeling up to it.

Thankfully, no one aside from some beta testers had made it to the village yet, and they usually were in and out pretty quick, so I never really had much interaction with them. Not that I could talk to them anyways, but whatever… They mostly ignored my presence when around.

The walk back to Horunka was still pretty boring, but at least the sunset looked nice, virtual or not.

_“AAIIIIEEEE!!!”_

I stopped mid step, nearly losing my footing in the process as a loud scream cut through the air, “What the hell?!” Even without any real detection skill, locating a cry that loud was fairly simple, and I rushed in the origin’s direction immediately.

I brought my sword out as I reached the top of the nearby hill, ready to fight off any monsters in the area. This world may not be real, but I’m not about to let anyone die because of that reason alone.

I play the hero route in most games anyhow.

Laying face-down on the path in front of me was short, brown haired player with a line of pixels emitting from her back. Standing on the path beyond them was a second player holding an <<Iron Sword>> similar to mine, his eyes scrunched into a furious looking expression.

I stood rooted on the spot, I could hardly believe it. Hardly a week in and players had already begun to turn on eachother. Did PK’ing really travel back this far in the timeline?

When the attacking swordsman began to step closer to the girl, I shook myself from my stupor and dashed down towards the two players, sliding to a stop between them and catching the boy off guard.

“Back off, blondie!” I brought my sword up towards the attacker, causing him to back off. His cursor had already changed to an orange color, easily identifying him as a criminal to the rest of the world. “You’ll just make it worse on everyone.”

I watched the shaken look on the boys face as he brought his sword up with both hands, his response matching it with a tone of confusion. Right… he has no idea what I’m saying.

I put on my best ‘angry glare’ face and brought my sword down to the dirt, tracing a line between the two of us and taking a step back, daring him to step forward.

It didn’t take words to get my point across, and it seemed as though this guy was considering calling my bluff. I decided to up the ante.

I flipped my <<Iron Sword>> around and jammed it into the dirt, causing it to stick straight up on its own as I crossed my arms, my eyes never leaving his.

It really was a total bluff, but he didn’t know that.

I could see his sword-arm shaking out of the corner of my vision, he wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence anymore.

After what seemed like hours — but was really only a few seconds — the near-PK’er lowered his blade and shouted what I could only assume was a curse at me before turning around a running off into the nearby forest. I hope the <<Little Nepent>>’s get him.

I retrieved my sword from the dirt, a little bummed out that its durability was dropping the entire time it was stuck there, and placed it back into its sheathe before turning around, “Hey, are you alright?” I reached down to help the player to her feet, noticing the yellow of her health bar hovering beside her.

I immediately reached for one of my <<Health Potion>>’s, passing it to her, “Here, this will help.” I couldn’t tell why, but she seemed familiar somehow… Was she in the show at some point?

It was pretty early in the game, so a lot of the characters were unlikely to have the same equipment they had when they were introduced on higher floors, but I couldn’t quite place my gut feeling…

Hesitantly, the fellow player accepted the bottle, “Arigato…” (Thank you...) Hey! A word I knew~

I nodded in response, slightly smiling to ease any worry she had about me. Understandable, given the circumstances.

Like me, she was wearing mostly beginner equipment, though with a lighter hue to her shirt as opposed to my darker crimson. She also had a white skirt and brown boots, though I didn’t see a weapon which was odd.

“Are you okay?” I asked once she finished drinking the red liquid. My only response was a confused tilt of the head.

I let out a sigh and spoke slower, “Are. You. O-Kay?” I pointed at her and put a thumb up before turning it downwards and then back again.

With a nod, she pointed her thumb up. So she was okay. Good. Though, after a moment she began to speak to me in Japanese. I waved my arms back and forth in front of me to make her stop.

When she did, I pointed to myself, “Eng-lish.” Man, I hated this game of ‘guess-what-the-heck-I’m-trying-to-say’. I suppose this is why I never struck up a conversation with the beta-testers… Yup.

Thankfully, she seemed to understand the communication problem and resorted to using simple gestures to communicate as well, such as nodding.

I looked up at the quickly falling sun and pointed towards the direction of the village, and then the sun itself. I repeated this action a few times. She looked at where I was pointing, but charades never really was my best game, so I guess it didn’t work as well as I had hoped.

Instead, I turned in the direction of town and tried the universal, ‘follow-me’ sign.

Again, she seemed uncertain of whether to follow me or not, but she didn’t exactly have a lot of options, so she eventually agreed and walked up beside me as we started our trek to Horunka village.

As we walked, I did my best to at least keep the awkward silence away. I looked over at the girl and caught her attention before gesturing to myself and a little of the japanese I knew, “Uh… Hajimashite- No, no- Hajimemashite!” (Uh… *Indecipherable*- No, no- Nice to meet you!) Great… now I sound like an idiot in another language. Eila’s right, I am a baka. I let out a sigh.

At least my introduction elicited a chuckle from my new acquaintance.

She mimicked my gesture in response, “Hajimemashite.” It sounded so much more fluid with how she spoke it. Maybe I could get her to teach me- No… that’s asking WAY too much…

I did my best to keep the mood light and went to try and tell her my name, “Watashi wa… Hiro… desu.” (I... am… Hiro.) My speech was very forced, but at least I said it properly, I think. I continued, “Watashi wa Amerikajin desu.” (I am American.)

I was already reaching the extent of what I knew about introductions… I really should have paid more attention to that online language course…

“Ohhhh…” The girl let out an understanding sound, the language barrier finally explained. I nodded in response, motioning for her to continue.

With a smile she nodded, speaking clearly enough for me to understand, “Kon'nichiwa, Hiro-san. Watashi wa Lisbeth desu.” (Hello, Hiro. I am Lisbeth.)

  


\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**[CROSSING FIELD ~ SAO INTRO 1]**

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

[Hiro_Lvl. 3]

 

{Equipped Weapon}

-Iron Sword

 

{Equipped Gear/Armor}

-(Hands) Adventurer’s Gloves

 

{Skills}

-One Handed Sword [11/1000]

-Sprint [15/1000]

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

CrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrap-

I did my best not to outwardly panic once I learned who it was I had just saved.

Did I regret saving her? No. But I most definitely screwed up the timeline in some way, I was sure.

I never really knew what happened to Lisbeth prior to her meeting Kirito on the higher floors, so maybe she was supposed to escape some other way or maybe be rescued by another player… Oh geeze.

And adding onto that, how did I not realize that this was THE Lisbeth from Sword Art Online?! The only thing different was her outfit and hair color, what am I blind?! Worse… I’m a baka.

Needless to say our conversation on the way into town was nonexistent as I tried to keep a straight face while my mind beat itself up over its lack of awareness. Though, I’m sure she must have realized something once I clammed up, but It’s not like I could explain it in a way she would understand even if I tried.

The two of us walked into the town inn —I had a room already paid for — and I prepared to part ways for the night to think this over.

As I turned to walk away I noticed the nervous look on Lisbeth’s face. I sighed and made a ‘what’s wrong’ gesture against my better judgement.

She rubbed the back of her neck and opened her player console, opening a specific window before turning it towards me. I leaned in for a closer look.

_{Cor: 0}_

Ah… That would be a problem.

I waved my hand nonchalantly, I was more than okay with lending her some money for a room. I proceeded to open my own player console to the ‘Cor’ tab, only to have my face twist into embarrassment at the sight as well.

_{Cor:47}_

A meagre room at the inn was 50 Cor a night.

Why did I have to buy those <<Adventurer’s Gloves>> earlier… It’s my own damn fault for being a compulsive spender this early on in the game…

I let out a sigh as I closed my menu, scratching my head in an attempt to figure out a solution. I wasn’t about to let her sleep on the street, that’s for sure. I guess there was always…

I rubbed my eyes, “Lisbeth-san.” I did my best to get her attention. It worked, as now her head was up to look at me instead of the floor.

I motioned for her to follow me and led her up the small flight of stairs, the wooden floorboards creaking at our steps every now and then. As we walked, I opened my menu once more and produced a small key from my inventory. I counted the doors as we passed by them, stopping at one labelled, “7”. The key fit snugly into the lock and we entered the small room.

Inside the space was a small desk, window, and a single bed. Perfect for the random adventuring hero, not so great for a PAIR of adventuring heroes. I could tell from the look on Lisbeth’s face that the situation was a bit awkward considering that we had just met.

“Go ahead and use the bed, I’m usually okay with taking the floor.” At this point I was pretty tired, so I didn’t care for trying to use my poor japanese skills to get across my point.

Besides, I usually opted to take the floor whenever on the road with friends or family. No one really understood how I could sleep so easily on such uncomfortable surfaces, but I would just shrug it off. If it didn’t bother me, why complain.

I slid down onto the floor beneath the window and folded my arms, getting settled in for the night with a yawn. I only had my eyes closed for about 30 seconds before I felt something tap me on the shoulder.

Lazily opening my eyes, I met Lisbeth’s as she glared down at me. I cocked an eyebrow in question.

Lisbeth huffed and placed her hands on her hips as she began to speak to me. I just stared at her with a neutral expression until she eventually realized that I was unable to understand whatever she was trying to tell me.

Her cheeks turned pink in embarrassment while I let out a chuckle. Based on my usual experiences with sleeping at friends houses, it was obvious that she wanted me to take the bed. I shook my head and then pointed to her and then the bed in question. I could see her fume slightly as she shook her head in refusal. I merely shrugged and settled back into my spot, eventually earning me an exasperated sigh as she gave up. Not being able to communicate with words made the argument more effort than it was worth, to be sure.

Though, in place of what should have been the sound of her climbing into the open bed, I instead heard the thump of something hitting the floor across the room.

I cracked an eye towards where Lisbeth now sat similarly on the floor near the desk. Was it really that hard for people to take an offered bed when someone else is on the floor?

I shook my head, I wasn’t about to force her to sleep somewhere she didn’t want to. At least she was safer in here than anywhere else.

I closed my eyes once more and finally let myself drift off to sleep.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

I awoke to the sound of my personal alarm system going off, telling me that it was time to wake up.

I kept my eyes shut tight and rolled over, waving my arm around to slap my non-existent alarm clock in a vain attempt to get a bit more sleep. When my hand met nothing but air, I let out a groan and forced myself into a sitting position.

I opened my menu and dismissed the alarm as I rubbed my eyes, letting out a stretch as I tried to shake off my sleepiness.

I yawned, “Doesn’t matter if it’s a game or real life… Waking up still sucks…” I mumbled to myself and looked around the room. Aside from laying down on the floor, I hadn’t moved an inch since I fell asleep.

Lisbeth, funnily enough, had actually moved onto the bed sometime during the night and was still sound asleep, my personal alarm silent to her ears.

Oh right… Lisbeth…

I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to get a grip on what was happening. I had surely destroyed several events that should have occurred in the timeline. The fact that I was sharing a room with one of Kirito’s future fangirls normally would have been something one would find as a positive thing.

Unfortunately, I was banking on a lot of the known future events to play out normally so I could have at least a small advantage in this world. Well, there goes that plan.

Not wanting to wake her, I shuffled past the bed and out the door, my stomach grumbling slightly as I went. Virtual hunger really was a bit of a drag.

I made my way down to the small lobby where a few wooden tables with chairs sat around for the occasional traveler to use. Being this early in the morning, no one else besides the Innkeeper NPC was there.

It was a bit unnerving at first how they would just stand there wordlessly awaiting new patrons of the Inn, though, I did get used to it after a bit. The female NPC was there to provide rooms and meagre food rations to travelers. The food really only consisted of bread and water, unfortunately, but it was better than nothing.

I opened my inventory and materialized a <<Bread Roll>> and <<Water Flask>> for breakfast, “Man, I wish they served coffee here…” I must have said that every morning so far, but alas, I had no luck on floor one finding any of the delicious elixir…

Digging into my “meal”, I opened up my system menu once again and selected the “Memo” tab. It had become a daily ritual of mine to write down everything I could about my day, usually during meals, as well as making plans and personal goals for me to accomplish. I added a quick description to the previous entry of my meeting with Lisbeth and the PK’er that was no doubt still roaming around before checking the schedule for the day.

The only things on the list was to rack up some more Cor from enemy drops, and to start the quest for the <<Anneal Blade>>. That quest had been on my to-do list since I arrived in Horunka, though I was still hesitant to try and complete it yet.

I thought it over as I closed my eyes and took another sip of water, having finished my bread at this point.

I suppose I could start the quest and take my time with it. If it seemed like too much to handle I could always pull back out and grind some more Exp before I made a second attempt.

My train of thought was cut short as I felt a presence appear beside me. I opened a single eye and found Lisbeth standing next to the table with the sleepiest expression I had ever seen across her face.

I rose an eyebrow but said nothing, instead simply gesturing to the open seat across from me. She lazily took the offer and rested her head on the table, not quite as ready to face the day as I was.

I let out a sigh and materialized another set of bread and water for her as well, setting on the table before her. She mumbled something akin to “thanks” before slowly taking the offering to eat.

“What am I going to do with you…” I muttered. As amazing as Lisbeth may have been in the upper floors, at this point she was barely able to look after herself in this death game. She must have been able to do it somehow, having met Kirito on floor 40+ if I remember correctly.

...ah, whatever. She can tag along or leave if she wants. It’s not like she’s an NPC or something.

...or wait, technically she was… right? I didn’t even know anymore.

I ran my hand through my hair with a sigh, “Okay look. I know you probably don’t understand a word I’m saying, but I have things I need to do before more players show up here.” I waved my menu open as I spoke, depositing a handful of Cor on the table for Lisbeth before standing to my feet.

I stretched out my arms as I continued, “Don’t worry about paying me back, consider it a small investment to an eventual blacksmith. Now if you don’t mind, I have a quest to accept. _Jā matane(See you later)._ ” I let out a small wave as I made my way to the door of the inn. I could feel Lisbeth staring at me as I left, but I didn’t feel like playing charades every time we had to communicate. She would have to manage on her own like she had in the series.

The cool morning air hit my face immediately as I stepped outside, aiding in waking me up for what was bound to be another long day. I could hardly believe I was leaving Lisbeth in favor of going it alone, but I pushed the thought out of my head as I walked along the sparsely populated road to the quest-giver’s house.

There was only a few NPC’s and players wandering around the street, going about their morning routines or preparing to head out to fight monsters for cash. The house was the only two story building in the village, so it was easy to spot even from a distance.

“How long did it take Kirito to complete this quest again…?” I pondered as I walked along.

In the anime, it didn’t exactly go over this part of the timeline, having skipped an entire month after day one. So I had to rely on my knowledge of what I read online about the in-between-episode happenings, which was pretty minimal in terms of specifics.

What I did remember, though, was that he had nearly been killed during a Monster PK, which is when a player lures enemy creatures to kill someone for them.

“ _Hiro-san!!!_ ”

My hand stopped just shy of opening the door of the building. I turned and watched as Lisbeth jogged to catch up with me. I guess I might as well add “Lisbeth Escort Quest” to my daily memo.

Once she caught her breath we more or less just stared awkwardly at each other, the language barrier doing little to assist our situation.

Eventually the small girl let out a huff of frustration and opened her menu screen. After a moment, a message appeared before me asking if I wanted to join Lisbeth’s Party.

I just rubbed my eyes and thought it over. While I didn’t want to get her involved in a potentially dangerous quest that could severely ruin the timeline if she were to be killed, I knew that I would need all the help I could get in order to complete it.

In the end, I decided to accept her offer, as much as I wanted to keep things as they should be,  it wasn’t like this place was real anyways.

“Alright, fine.” I hit the ‘accept’ button. “But I have first dibs on any reward we get here.” Lisbeth smiled. She may not understand what I was saying, but accepting the Party invite was good enough I suppose.

I motioned for her to follow me inside as I opened the door. Inside was a small yet quaint living area decorated with ornate furnishings and potted plants. Across from the door was an attached kitchen area with a single female NPC toiling away at various cookware.

Lisbeth looked at me questioningly, given that there was no quest marker in the vicinity, it was a reasonable response. I just smiled and walked up to the NPC.

As I neared, the woman turned to me and gave a weak smile, “Oh, travellers! What a surprise.” Her voice was smooth and easily understandable, though if I listened closely, I could hear a similar japanese translation that was likely being broadcasted for Lisbeth to hear.

I gave a slight bow, playing my part as though it was a role in a play, “Pardon our intrusion, ma’am. We were simply seeking a place of rest amidst our travels.” Mom was right, I should have taken drama in high school.

“Well I’m afraid I don’t have any food at the moment, but would you care for a glass of water dears?”

I nodded, “That would be most appreciated, thank you.”

It was obviously not true, as there was clearly a pot of something stewing on the stove, but I didn’t press the matter. I moved to take a seat on the small couch, leaving room for Lisbeth to join me with skepticism. A feeling which I ignored.

While the NPC prepared us our drinks, the sound of coughing could be heard from an adjoining room. An audible sigh came from the kitchen area as the woman seemed to take up a more sullen expression. As she turned back to us with a pair of small water cups, a small quest marker appeared above her head.

Lisbeth stirred at the sight, and I caught her mutter something under her breath, with the term “Kuesuto(Quest)” being the only thing I recognized.

I nodded and accepted the water, passing a cup to Lisbeth before activating the quest, “Is everything alright, ma’am?”

The NPC took a seat across from us, shaking her head, “Actually, journeying swordsman, my daughter has recently been affected by a terrible illness. The medicine I acquired from the market doesn’t seem to make her condition any better either…”

The woman continued to explain her troubles to me and Liz. I found myself listening along to her story quite intently, almost forgetting that the world around me wasn’t real for a minute. I knew the basic premise of the quest, sure, but the sadness that she expressed seemed more lifelike than I would have ever guessed.

The quest itself was simple enough to understand. The medicine in town wasn’t working, so her only hope was a very special plant found in the forest that could be used as a cure for her daughter’s sickness. Unfortunately, this plant only happened to grow on the head of dangerous creatures known as <<Little Nepent>>’s. These ironically large plant-like monsters were over a meter and a half tall walking terrors; they walked around on their roots and had large carnivorous mouths on their tall, bulbous bodies. The most difficult part of this quest had to be the fact that the plant that grew on its head was extremely rare, and I was never able to beat more than a group of three at a time. Hopefully having Lisbeth with me would help a bit.

The sound of Lisbeth speaking shook me from my thoughts.

Across from us, the desperate mother had looked up in surprise, “You travellers would be willing to do that for me?” Lisbeth and I nodded in unison.

“Of course!”

“Hai!”

The woman broke into a grateful smile, “Thank you so much. If you truly can help me, I would gladly reward you for your troubles.”

Bidding the NPC farewell, the two of us left the house and made our way from the town in the direction of the forest.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

“There’s another group of them over there!”

I ran top speed towards another trio of <<Little Nepent>>’s, quickly slicing through the first one with a combination of basic slash attacks. Unfortunately, sword skills were still not something I could pull off, so I only managed to bring its HP down to 50% before it was able to retaliate by flinging one of its sharp vines at me.

“Hrgh!!” I quickly brought my sword up to block, but the force of the strike still managed to push me back a few feet. Knocking the appendage away, I began to slash away again.

As I attacked, the remaining <<Little Nepent>>’s began to shuffle in my direction.

“Hah!!” Before they could reach me, Lisbeth finally burst through the nearby bushes, slamming her glowing <<Iron Hammer>> into the nearest approaching monster, knocking it away and causing a bit of stun damage.

I would have thanked Lisbeth for the save, but she was currently spewing various Japanese phrases that sounded strangely similar to chastising. Probably due to my reckless attack strategy, but who knows, maybe it was a compliment.

After a bit of back and forth, I was able to defeat the first <<Little Nepent>>, causing it to explode into the usual dissolving pixels. There was no time to celebrate as I turned my attention to Lisbeth and her current enemy.

Surprisingly, Lisbeth had already defeated her first <<Little Nepent>> and was fighting the last one, which began to swing both of its sharpened vines down at her. Reacting to the attack, Lisbeth swung her hammer upwards, activating a sword skill and deflecting the attack.

“Kaeru(Switch)!!”

“Got it!” I took the chance opening and leapt in front of Liz, performing another basic combo on the creature and bringing it’s HP down to a sliver before Lisbeth was able to recover and land the final blow, shattering the beast to pieces.

After a moment I let out a sigh of fatigue, allowing myself to fall back onto the grass. We had been fighting all morning and had little success in finding anything other than the normal <<Little Nepent>>’s, the ones without a flower on them. We were accumulating a decent amount of Cor and Exp at least, but it was really starting to wear me out.

“Alright Lisbeth, let’s take five…” I groaned, wanting to enjoy the softness of the forest floor for a bit.

The quest started out pretty rough, with us being unable to communicate very easily during combat we had struggled against only one or two enemies at a time. We eventually got the hang of switching at least, which was a start. I definitely needed to figure out the trick behind the sword skills though, because I was pretty ineffective at inflicting damage. Luckily I had the knack of stringing together several basic strikes without losing my momentum, but that only helped so much.

Lisbeth, on the other hand, was nearly the exact opposite. She was great at using her sword skills and <<Iron Hammer>> to deal heavier attacks, but usually left herself wide open afterwards, which left me to intervene long enough for her to recover and attack again.

All in all, we made a pretty okay team.

The feeling of my mind drifting off was interrupted by the sound of what I could only guess was Lisbeth nagging at me. Probably something along the lines of, ‘We can’t rest now, we have a quest to complete!’ or something.

“Look,” I waved my hand in the air uncaringly, “this quest isn’t exactly something we can just grind through like this. We just need to be lucky enough to find the ONE Nepent with a flower, and running around without rest is only going to get us killed. Take a break.” I returned my hands behind my head and took a deep breath.

I wasn’t planning on resting for too long, but even our virtual bodies couldn’t take the constant work, especially at our level. Heck, Lisbeth had only just achieved level 3 THAT MORNING! She needed to chill out.

I hoped that my tone of voice got through to her, because I wasn’t going to act out my point this time.

A huff of annoyance reached my ears as I listened to the sound of Lisbeth pace about the clearing, frustrated I’m sure. I could hear her murmuring under her breath, but it mattered little as I wasn’t standing up for another three and a half minutes.

I take my breaks very seriously.

Once I had figured that my five minutes were up, I returned to my feet with a stretch, groaning slightly as I did so. Lisbeth had taken to sitting on a nearby rock, waiting for me to continue on with the quest.

Wow, I had actually out-stubborned Lisbeth. Fancy that. I took a quick check of our current HP.

Both of us were faring decently well, only having lost about 30-40% of our points during the course of the morning. That left us with plenty left to get back to town and buy a few supplies before heading back out again.

“Alright, Lisbeth, let’s head back to Horunka Village so we can-”

“Hiro-san!”

I was interrupted as Lisbeth pointed off into the foliage. In the shade of the tall trees, a lone <<Little Nepent>> could be seen shuffling around. My eyes went wide as I saw the splash of red adorned on the top of its head, could this be our lucky day?

“Awesome!” I readied my <<Iron Sword>> and turned towards Lisbeth, “C’mon, let’s beat this sucker and collect our prize!”

Lisbeth made an affirmative sounding grunt as we charged at the walking plant. Having a slightly higher speed allowed me to get the drop on the poor creature first and I quickly took a chunk out of its HP by myself. Before it even had time to turn around I was already calling for Lisbeth.

“Switch!” I hopped back and watched as the hammer wielding girl took a heavy swing at the <<Little Nepent>>, and then another.

“Alright, this quest is as good as-” I froze in realization of a crucial detail. While indeed, this wasn’t the usual <<Little Nepent>> variant we had been fighting all morning, it was also not the one we wanted to find.

Atop the head of the creature was, not a flower, but a large red fruit. Something that did not bode well for us as Lisbeth’s final attack came crashing down towards it.

“No, wait! Lisbeth stop!” I was to late with my warning as the hammer made contact with the red orb, causing it to explode and emit a foul smelling odor moments before the creature dissolved into fragments.

This was bad.

Like, really bad.

Bad squared.

As the two of us coughed away the horrible smell, the sound of several screeching creatures met our ears. That fruit had attracted the attention of every enemy in the area, and by the sound of it, we were in WAY over our heads.

I held a hand over my mouth and nose as I grabbed ahold of Lisbeth with the other, “Run!” I choked out, pulling her along away from the area. With my eyes tearing up, I could barely see where we were going as we ducked and dodged around trees and rocks. Honestly though, anywhere was better than there.

I could hear the stomping of monsters behind us, and I had no intention to find out how many there were.

Unfortunately for us, our bad luck seemed to get worse as we shoved through a set of bushes only to come face-to face with a cliff wall.

“Shit!” I cursed out loud as I pushed Lisbeth behind me, turning to face what might have been a small army of <<Little Nepent>>’s heading our way.

“Hiro-san!”

“Stay back, Lisbeth. We’re about to have company.” I tensed up as I prepared for the worst.

What transpired next was eerily similar to how the Moonlit Black-Cats would meet their fate. The treeline was filled with carnivorous plant monsters, all of them practically drooling from their disgusting oversized mouths. Each and every one of them was a level 3 monster, and as luck would have it, none of them had a flower, not that it mattered at this point.

We were about to get completely and utterly ripped apart. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

Like the calm before the storm, silence filled the surrounding area for several seconds. Then all hell broke loose.

**“RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”**

The army of <<Little Nepent>>’s began to charge a few at a time, swarming towards us like a horde of zombies.

There was nothing we could do to stop them, there was simply too many, and I didn’t have the power to take on more than a couple at a time, let alone dozens!

This grass in front of the cliffside was where we would die as level 3 scrub-players. Would I actually die for real? Or did my existence transcend the rules here in Aincrad? I wasn’t sure, but Lisbeth wasn’t in the same boat as me, and she would certainly not be coming back in this instance. Damn, I wish I knew how this world worked, what if the malfunction left my body comatose while my mind would simply disappear in this place?

I didn’t want to die! I didn’t want anyone to die!

I grit my teeth and raised my sword. If this truly was the end, I was going down swinging.

“You want a piece of me you bastards?!” I charged forwards at top speed towards the closest <<Little Nepent>>, “IKU-ZE!!!!”

“Hiro-san!!!”

I could hear Lisbeth shouting behind me, but I didn’t stop. I sliced and cut my way through the first enemy in record time, only for it to be immediately replaced by three more. I slashed at the lot of them, making sure their attention was on me and not Liz.

“Lisbeth! Run, NOW!!” Lisbeth seemed to be rooted on the spot, either from not understanding me or from fear, I didn’t know.

A portion of my health bar vanished as I felt a razor-vine slice at my shoulder, to which I returned the favor in kind before ducking around and swinging at another pair of monsters that were trying to head towards Lisbeth, bringing their attention to me instead.

“Oh no you don’t you little-OW!!!” Another bit of health disappeared as my offhanded arm was struck, allowing red pixels to escape from the open wound. It seemed for every <<Little Nepent>> I managed to defeat, another bit of my HP was chipped away. Soon I was barely hanging on with 10% of my HP remaining, and yet I was no closer to victory than when I began. My breathing was labored and I was bleeding pixels all across my body. I stole a glance at Lisbeth’s HP gauge, finding it around the 30% area as well.

We were practically back-to-back at this point and there was no chance of escape. Dammit. Kirito himself couldn’t magician himself a victory here. I could only hold a shaky guard as the <<Little Nepent>>’s began to advance once again.

“I hope Eila doesn’t dissect my body once I’m gone.” I would have chuckled at the fact that this was what I thought in the face of death, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

“Sorry, Kirito. Guess I won’t catch up to you after all.”

As the space between us and the monsters grew smaller and smaller, a message box appeared inches from my face, making me jump in surprise.

 

**[ >Connecting…**

**>...**

**>...Connected!**

 

**> Admin_Pass **

** >************

**>...Login_Accepted!**

** >User: EILA_HAYSER **

**> Command_Reset **

** >Player_10001**

** >Settings**

** >Preferences**

** >Sword_Skills**

** >Set_Active**

**> Working…**

**>...Complete!**

** >Player: <<Hiro>> Sword Skills Activated**

 

**> Command_Add **

** >Player_10001**

** >Combat**

** >Sword_Skills**

** >ID_1615787**

**> Working…**

**>...Complete!**

** >Sword_Skill: <<Retaliation>> Added**

 

**> Session_Interrupted**

** >User: EILA_HAYSER Disconnected_by_GM**

**> Terminating_Session**

**]**

The words slid up across the screen quickly, but I was able to catch most of it before the console disappeared from existence. Was Eila trying to help me?

I shook my head and steeled my nerves, not about to let this small blessing go to waste. Slipping my hand into the pouch on my waist, I removed and downed my only healing potion, slowly bringing my health up and out of the red. I cringed at the bitter taste in my mouth, but continued to drink until it was empty. I practically dropped the container the second I had finished, taking a deep inhale I raised my sword to deflect another attack.

***Whiiiiiiir!!***

The sound and change in color that came from my <<Iron_Sword>> was recognizable in an instant as I deflected the vine and tore through the Nepent diagonally with a satisfying <<Slant>> Skill.

…

…

…

...I smiled, the elation from the strike pure and noticeable on my face.

“All right! Now we’re talking!” I shouted and followed up with a <<Horizontal>> to the next enemy, and then a <<Vertical>> to the next. Each enemy was quickly falling as my attacks tore through their defenses and eliminating whatever HP they had left.

My feet planted to the floor following an <<Uppercut>> sword skill, my excitement having me try every single one-handed beginner skill I could think of. My smile faded quickly as I realized that, in my haste, I had still taken a few hits from the remaining enemies, and I was now stuck in a Delay. My reckless use of Skills resulted in disabling my movement for a few harsh seconds.

Seconds I couldn’t afford, having noticed that my HP was once again back down in the red. If I took more than maybe a single hit or two, I was a goner.

I flinched as a pair of <<Little Nepent>>’s swung at my immobile form.

“Hrrraaaahh!”

I watched as my fate was averted by the swing of a hammer, Lisbeth sliding in front of me and knocking the two back long enough for me to move again. I quickly stepped up beside her and readied my sword once more.

Lisbeth nodded at me, “Dōtai ni.”

“Together.” I nodded back.

Unwavering, the both of us began fighting our way forward. I would unleash a combination of sword skills, and while I was delayed, Liz would step in and finish them all off with their hammer just quick enough for me to step in and restart the process.

The number of <<Little Nepent>>’s dwindled, leaving only four left. Though at this point, we were both exhausted, and the closest Nepent took full advantage of our momentary pause to catch our breath.  Lisbeth was struck and her HP dropped from 30% to 10%. I regained my footing and cut down the offending creature with what little energy I had left. That left us with three more, and I was out of steam.

I brought my sword up to block another strike and felt the sword fly from my hands, leaving me defenseless. The Nepent wound up for another attack and I could only stand there, too exhausted to move. Just as the vine came flying down, I heard the sound of a sword skill power up as Lisbeth shoved me aside and slammed the attack away. She then followed up with a powerful downward slam that stunned them both before collapsing to her knees.

“Hiro-San!!!”

I struggled towards my fallen blade, raising it back up and into a fighting position before winding up for an attack. As I did so, the sound of a sword skill could be heard again, one that glowed red instead of the usual blue from before. _Retaliation._

“Here I come!” I swung at the Nepent, unaware of the fact that I spoke unintentionally.

My attacks started slowly, slicing the Nepent a few times before it was noticeable that my attacks were getting faster and faster with each hit. I quickly cut through two of the remaining Nepents single-handedly before the skill ended and I was delayed. The last one caught its chance and slammed me onto my back, leaving me to emit more red pixels as my HP dropped to a sliver. Lisbeth and I struggled to our feet as the flower headed Nepent pounced again. I could barely raise my sword up to my stomach, which left me completely open to the attack.

Just before it reached me, I felt something warm clasp my hands as my sword was given the extra lift it needed to pierce the beast through the center, stopping it in its tracks before finally exploding into countless pieces.

Then it was silent. Lisbeth and I stood for only a few seconds more before we collapsed onto the cold grass in a heap.

“It’s… over.”

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

My eyes creaked open slowly as the light of the sun filtered through the open window. Having forgone the use of my alarm for once, it was my only way of telling that a new day had risen over Aincrad.

I unwillingly forced myself to a sitting position, stretching my entire body out from the comfort of the wooden floor. With a groan of content I let my head loll back onto the mattress of the bed softly, using the wooden frame as a backrest while I slowly woke up for the day.

Behind me, Lisbeth had once again taken possession of the bed for herself, and had splayed out quite ungracefully during the night. She had practically collapsed onto the bed immediately and fell asleep almost as quickly when we finally returned for the night after the events in the forest.

We had crumpled to the forest floor after the battle and did not move for nearly an hour. Once we were able to regain our strength enough to stand, the afternoon was already upon us with the orange tint from the sun just beginning to fade into view.

The clearing that had been the location of our last stand should have been littered with debris and carcassas, were this real life. Instead, every item drop, every experience point, and every piece of Cor had been automatically sorted into our inventories evenly. There was plenty of materials to last me a while through to maybe the second floor, and enough Cor to facilitate a small party for some time as well.

I was also thrilled to find out that I had actually levelled up to level 4. Not exactly worth almost dying for, but it was something.

The most important thing, however, was the item that sat on the midst of everything else.

The <<Little Nepent's Ovule>>. The item we nearly lost our lives to retrieve, was ours.

There was no major celebration, no cheering, no excitement. We were completely DRAINED.

We weakly shared a single high-five and began the slow walk back to town, where we opted for sleep rather than completing the quest just yet.

I tilted my head towards where the smaller girl lay slumbering peacefully. I didn’t have the heart to wake her just yet, and instead just took in the sight of her sleeping form. It reminded me how Eila and I would pass out after a long night of games and movies growing up. It was strange how even in this death game there was a sense of familiarity that could be found.

It made me smile as I quietly rose to my feet, my virtual body yearning for something to fill itself. That reminds me, I need to stock up on supplies today. Better add that to my list during breakfast.

I silently left the room and went down to the lobby. Surprisingly, there was actually a few other patrons sitting around the dining area today. It wouldn’t be long until most of the determined players swarmed the town and took on the quest. That means my time here was almost up, I needed to stay ahead of the main group if I wanted to keep my advantage.

Geez. I was starting to sound like a true Beater now, not that the term existed yet.

I made my way up to the innkeeper to pay her the Cor needed for a couple rolls of bread and some water. Before I closed the shop window, however, I noticed an extra item that wasn’t there before.

It was labeled <<Read Me Hiro>>, which took me by surprise. The item itself was free, and seemed to be little more than a piece of paper. I accepted the costless item immediately and sat down at my usual table.

I materialized a bread roll and some water before opening the curious item. I took a bite of my breakfast and began reading.

 

_[Dear “Hiro”,_

_I hope this message gets to you without trouble. I left it here in hopes that you would get it before you wandered off again. Seriously, can you calm down with the recklessness a bit? I nearly had a heart attack today when I saw your HP go below 20 percent. I practically went and announced to Kayaba that I can access the system like that, and he oh-so-easily locked me away from admin access again._

_I’ll try and help when I can, but every time I find a hole in the system, it gets blocked out almost as quickly. I’m still able to make minor adjustments at least, like writing this message to you. But I won’t be able to help you again like I did before, not for a while anyways._

_...that reminds me. I probably don’t have to warn you about this, but…_

_Due to the severity of the situation and my lack of control over the machine… death is a very real issue. To put it simply, your mind is basically floating inside the machine, like data. And, well, if the system was given a reason to delete you... it could._

_I’m sorry... I guess I lied when I said that it was only a game._

_It feels like forever since the machine locked your mind inside SAO. I’m loaded up to my nose with reports and inquiries about the malfunction that I haven’t been able to even leave the lab to sleep._

_Not that I want to. I won’t leave until I can get you out of there, I even made a bed to sleep on using one of the old gurney's so I can keep an eye on you._

_Also, I made it so that if you sell a written message labelled “To Eila” at any shop, it’ll be redirected to my console so I can see it. I really want to hear from you. Mom and dad do too._

_So please… don’t die._

_If you’re mad about the whole thing, I understand. But please…_

_Don’t die._

 

_-Eila_

_]_

 

Don’t die…

Since I was trapped in this game over a week ago, I had a feeling that death could be a very real thing for me, even being from a different reality than what it was.

But for some reason, those words struck a chord in my heart that made the feeling of fear well up inside my chest.

The fear of death.

I hadn’t been afraid to die, not like I was now, for as long as I could recall. What’s worse, was that there were people on the other side waiting for me to wake up from this dream I was trapped in. Or perhaps, it really was a nightmare.

One I might be trapped in for two years.

I thought of Lisbeth, the girl who, since I met her two days ago, was nothing more  than a character in a story that was made for my enjoyment.

Now though, I was no more real than she. I was simple ones and zeros in a game that could kill me like it was nothing.

I gripped my head in my hands as I slumped over, letting the note fall to the table alongside my forgotten meal. I didn’t know what I was going to do anymore.

“Hiro-san...”

I looked up, finding none other than Lisbeth’s worried face staring across from me. It hurt to look into those eyes of hers. I had nearly gotten her killed as well, and yet she stayed.

She placed an arm on my shoulder hesitantly as she took a seat at the table. Her hand was warm, making it seem even harder to think of her as anything but real.

She smiled gently, trying to silently cheer me up.

I smiled back and rubbed my eyes, rubbing any essence of tears from my eyes before looking back at her again.

I had made it a week no problem, what was another couple years… okay, that was a bit of a stretch, but I guess it helped knowing that I had Eila to watch my back from the outside.

Lisbeth’s hand fell from my shoulder as I opened my window and materialized the food I had gotten for her as well. She smiled brightly.

“Arigato gozaimasu!” she thanked before digging into the food. It was a shame they didn’t taste that great, and she was probably only trying to cheer me up even more by doing so.

I patiently waited as she finished her meal, placing the message from Eila into my inventory and filling in my to-do list of things-to-do. Mainly consisting of finishing the quest and buying a stock of supplies for the road ahead.

Lisbeth let out a sigh of content and leaned back in her chair.

I chuckled and stood to my feet, “Come on. We’ve got a quest to complete.”

I practically had to drag the small future-blacksmith behind me all the way to the quest-giver’s house.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

We handed in the quest with no problem, though I was a little hesitant to do so at first.

We had walked in and interacted with the woman, who immediately started thanking us profusely for everything we had done, handing over the <<Anneal Blade>> as the quest reward. We earned some extra Exp and Cor as well, which was graciously accepted.

Lisbeth immediately refused the sword when I offered for her to take it, shoving it back into my chest in emphasis. I guess she couldn’t really do anything with it, her being a hammer wielder after all. So I decided I would just use it as materials for a new weapon, whenever I decided what it would be.

After giving us our reward, the woman opened a door to the side of the room. Lisbeth and I shared a look before following, though I was pretty sure I knew what was inside.

Laying on a bed as we peered in, near the middle of the small room, was a young girl. Her pale complexion emphasized the severity of her illness. I felt Lisbeth bump against my shoulder as she made her way to the side of the bed. I stepped off to the side, watching as the caring mother lifted a spoonful of the medicinal concoction that we had help make to the poor girl's mouth.

At first, nothing happened, and I could see the look of despair hint at the edges of Lisbeth and the mother’s faces.

Though after a few seconds, the girl’s eyes opened and wandered over to the side of the bed.

“M… Mommy…”

The mother choked back a sob and reached out to embrace her daughter, who was finally showing some signs of recovery.

“I’m so happy you’re feeling better.” She said, tears appearing in her eyes.

I fought back tears of my own, instead smiling at the happy reunion unfolding before me. Lisbeth didn’t fare as well, and her face was already filled with tears of happiness.

When the two finally parted, the young girl turned to look at Lisbeth curiously.

The mother gestured to the two of us, “These travellers were kind enough to help make you feel better sweetie.” The young girl smiled.

“Thank you… very much.” She spoke softly, just loud enough for me to hear.

Lisbeth said something in Japanese in return and gave the child a hug as well. I chuckled and walked up beside the, ruffling the young girl’s hair as well.

“We were more than happy to help.” I said.

Soon, Lisbeth and I were back on the town road, having said our farewells to the happy family.

Having completed the quest at long last, it was time to go shopping. And boy, did we have PLENTY of Cor to work with. After all of the events during the quest as well as the reward itself, I was set up with a sweet 1,834 Cor. Not exactly a fortune, but much better off than what I had started with at the beginning of the quest.

“Hiro-san...”

I looked over at Lisbeth who was currently walking beside me on the way to the town’s shop.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Lisbeth stopped, causing me to cease walking as well as I awaited her reply. She shuffled her feet back and forth a little bit while her face seemed to twist into one of concentration. After a moment she looked up at me, a tinge of red just visible on her cheeks.

“Th… Th-ah-nk… Ye-ou.”

Thank you.

I felt my face heat up a bit. Dammit, why did all of the girls in this show have to be so adorable at times?!

The determined look on her face only added to the effect it had on me, and I had to force my mind to focus on saying something back before I looked even more like a baka.

“It- It was nothing.” I smiled, causing a huge grin to appear on Lisbeth’s face as well.

The two of us shared a friendly hug, with her head just barely reaching my chin, before we made our way to our next destination.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**_Next time on, ’A Machine Between Worlds’..._ **

 

_“Whoa- This thing weighs a TON!!!”_

 

_[I might have a small solution to your language problem.]_

 

_“Thank you all for showing up today. My name is Diabel.”_

 

_“Diabel dies during the boss raid. I can stop it from happening.”_

 

_[You can’t go playing with the timeline like this._

_You might just make things worse than they already are!]_

 

_“I’m going to show you the true meaning of fear, just you wait.”_

 

_“This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen… What have I done?”_

 

**_Next time… ‘When You Challenge Fate’_ **

**_...END_ **


	3. Chapter 3: When you Challenge Fate

The afternoon wind passed through the small market square as various players moved about their daily lives in Aincrad.

I quickly flicked my hand to the side, opening a new Memo page in my menu as I continued to write. My opposite hand held a Bread Roll with some cream on it, the same that Kirito had earned from the first floor cow quest. Lisbeth and I had completed it that morning ourselves.

The taste was worth every lost hit-point.

We had spent a great deal of time wandering around the first floor of Aincrad for the better part of the last couple of weeks. Working together had garnered us more Exp than I ever did working solo, and at a faster rate too. 

Our conversations were still fairly limited throughout our traveling, but we had a better understanding of what we were trying to say with our gestures and expressions. We did raise a few eyebrows every now and then when we were out in public due to it, but we did our best to ignore it.

Translation problems aside, it really was nice to have someone to talk to again. It kept me from going stir crazy, that’s for sure.

Speaking of which, I was finally able to get a message to the real-real world — or ‘True Earth’ as I liked to call it — and gave Eila updates on what was happening in Aincrad every few days. She wasn’t too excited to hear that I had disrupted Lisbeth’s timeline, but she figured that it was too late to stop anything about it now.

She kept tabs on me when she could, but couldn’t risk poking her nose too far into the system and risk being cut off again. It was enough to know that she was still working from her end to get me out, though the likelihood of hacking me out was pretty much nonexistent at this point in time. Guess I’d have to beat the game like everyone else. Or at least make it until floor 75 where Kirito would end it early.

Two years, huh? Guess I should get comfortable then.

I closed up my memo as I noticed Lisbeth exit a nearby armor shop. After a close call with a few <<Kobold Scout>>’s the day before, we both agreed to buy some new equipment for ourselves.. Having both leveled up enough to gain a new skill slot, we both decided on getting the <<Light Metal Equipment>> skill, which had allowed us to upgrade our gear a bit. It wasn’t much, but the metallic chestpiece was a definite improvement over the basic stuff that we had before. 

So much had happened since we had first met, sometimes it’s strange to realize that we were still on the first floor. There wasn’t much that stood a chance against us, or any players for that matter, as long as we played it smart. Most of the time, a player died because of poor judgement or even just plain ridiculous actions.

Oh right… Death.

The first death I saw was unfortunately against the very same <<Kobold Scout>>’s from before. Lisbeth and I had arrived too late to the sounds of fighting, just in time to watch the reptilian creatures cut down a lone player. A beta-tester, no doubt. No one else would have the gall to venture out so far by themselves.

We watched as his longsword snapped in two, its durability finally depleted, just seconds before the Kobold killed him. It was a bit of a surreal feeling to watch those shards of pixels float away, knowing that the person on the other side of that data was now gone forever. Even if I was from “True Earth”, and the people here were even more ones and zeroes than I was, it still shook me to the core at the sight. 

Incidentally, it did spark Lisbeth’s interest in blacksmithing, which was good. She had already switched over one of her skills to <<Metal Equipment Repairing>>, which was simple enough to advance by simply repairing our own weapons and gear rather than taking them to an NPC to do it for us. It was definitely cheaper. 

Of course, I may have been partly to blame for her decision, dropping subtle hints towards the idea in what ways I could. She had a ways to go before she became the well-known blacksmith she was in the show, but it was a start.

I stood and stretched out my arms as she approached, “Did you get everything you needed?” I put my thumb up to help get my point across.

Lisbeth nodded and gave me sly grin, swinging a brand new hammer over her shoulder. I looked on in awe as she said something to me in japanese, knowing her, it was probably a witty remark.

It was an excellent investment, as this hammer was meant for forging, and would allow us to repair our items without borrowing as many tools at the public smithys every time. We would still need to borrow an anvil or smeltery, but every Cor counted.

“Awesome!” I exclaimed, looking it over, “You’re starting to look more like a real blacksmith now!”

Lisbeth blushed and rubbed the back of her head at my excitement before quickly depositing the item into her inventory. We still had a good portion of the afternoon to finish up our latest quest, so we were both eager to get right back to it.

I made sure to check the item shop on our way out one more time to see if Eila had left a new message for me, but there was nothing new. I had been stressing to her about the difficulty I was having with communication, and was really hoping she would come up with something soon so I wasn’t left guessing what people were trying to say. Hopefully she would think of something soon.

I pulled out my sword as we left the village, feeling much safer with it in my hand whenever I was outside a safe zone. It also helped that Lisbeth was there, her usual <<Iron Hammer>> over her shoulder beside me. She definitely wasn’t as nervous about fighting as when we first met, I noticed, though that didn’t mean she let her guard down any less.

I turned my eyes to the dirt road ahead of us as it wound its way along a stream through the green forest. The light of the virtual sun broke through the tree leaves in patches and allowing anyone beneath to see easily. Our quest required us to locate and defeat a pair of enemy Kobolds that had stolen two wooden idols from an old saleswoman, and return them to her. 

Judging from the directions she had so conveniently been able to provide, we had found one of them that morning and were on route to where the second one had run off to.

I took a deep breath of the cool forest air, “Onamae wa... nandesuka?” I asked slowly.

Lisbeth let out an amused huff and turned her head towards me as we continued to walk, “My name… is... Lisbeth desu.”

I chuckled, “ No, no ‘desu’. Just, ‘My name is Lisbeth.’” 

We had been doing our best to learn each other’s languages recently, but it wasn’t exactly the smoothest of learning curves. Despite neither of us having much experience teaching such a thing, we had a few phrases down that were common enough to pick up: ‘Good morning’, ‘Thank you’, ‘You’re welcome’, and things in that nature were among the list. We did what we could anyway.

Lisbeth groaned and grumbled something about my language being something-or-other, but she stopped when a pair of <<Kobold Scout>>’s let out a screech from across the stream.

They had reached the bank and jumped across quickly, landing right where my glowing sword was beginning a <<Horizontal>> strike.

“Hrghah!” I yelled and slashed across the both of them as they touched down, jumping back as one of their spears came around to shove me. The second one had reeled back their spear in an attempt to skewer me, but all it took was a quick side-step for it to miss me, albeit a bit closely.

Lisbeth joined in quickly, slamming her hammer into the side of the first Kobold before it could react. The creature was sent stumbling backwards away from its counterpart, allowing us to focus on one enemy each.

They didn’t last long. After a quick chain of sword skills from me and a couple of hammer skills from Liz, we were rewarded with the sounds of shattering glass as the scouts were defeated.

“At least they’re not sending packs of these guys at us…” I muttered as I surveyed the area. 

Lisbeth groaned and spoke, more than likely expressing her opinion of the battle as well, before turning back towards the trail.

I moved to follow her, but stopped and turned back towards where the kobolds had emerged across the stream in thought.

“Hey. Liz…” I said, loud enough for her to hear. The brown haired girl turned back to me with almost a bored expression, “I want to check something out really quick. C’mon.” I gestured for her to follow me and began walking towards the stream.

Normally if an enemy ambushed you like that, they would just appear in a flash of light around you. It signaled their attack and gave players the chance to, at the very least, draw their weapons before attacking. These scouts, however, appeared almost normally from a distance, like they were there beforehand. 

With a running start, I leapt across the stream. Or at least, I tried to. It wasn’t too wide of a stream, but my <<Sprint>> skill did not add any real height to my jump, and I fell short by a few feet, landing up to my knees in the water. 

I stumbled, but caught myself before I face planted into the side of the stream. Once safely out of the water, I turned and watched Lisbeth sigh and mutter something under her breath before looking up and down the stream.

After a moment, she moved over a few yards and easily hopped across some nearby stones sticking up just enough out of the water to keep players dry. Wonder how I missed that. 

Once across she gave me a satisfied smile and gestured for me to lead the way.

I lead us through the bushes to a small clearing. The area sunk into the earth to where some stone circles lay scattered about with a few pillars bordering the area. It was almost tranquil to look at with the sunlight shining in through the trees here and there.

We shared a glance before making our way down into the ruins.

“I wonder if this is part of the quest?” I asked aloud, running my hand along one of the pillars as I passed.

There were runic looking carvings in each one, though it was impossible to say whether they meant anything or if it was just an artistic design by the game developers. 

Or… you know… Eila’s machine or whatever.

Lisbeth was similarly inspecting the area, the amazement on her face plain to see. It was still strange seeing her without the pink hair she was known for in the series, but she was still the same Liz. Just a bit younger than when Kirito first met her.

That got me wondering, how old was she, actually? She was about Kirito’s age from what I recalled, so that made her… what, 15? 16? 

Not that I looked much older myself, the machine cut a few years off my life when it gave me my new body so I was roughly the same age from what I could gather.

The exact numbers were hard enough to calculate anyway with my internal calendar more out of whack than anything. 

It was early Fall when I went in the machine, and late Fall when I arrived in Aincrad. December was right around the corner in SAO, which meant the first floor boss raid was coming up. Even if I didn’t participate, I needed to make sure I was at least keeping myself up-to-date with what was happening there. Maybe I could find Argo ‘The Rat’, and get some info on a few things.

Wait. I can’t talk to anyone yet... Right…

I let out a sigh and moved over towards where Lisbeth was looking over the central stone circle, “Looks like this isn’t the place. Maybe it’s part of another quest line or some-”

A flicker of movement caught my eye, attracting my full attention.

From behind one of the larger pillars across from where we entered emerged a towering creature not unlike the two scouts we had encountered before. On its face was a white, bone-like mask that covered the top portion of its head, leaving only a pair of slots open for the eyes. It was much more muscular looking than the other kobolds we had faced, and over its shoulder it hefted a large blade that was nearly as tall as I was, and just as wide.

A <<Ruin Kobold Guardian>>, I almost didn’t hear its footsteps or heavy breathing as I took in the name floating above its head. 

Beside me, Lisbeth had also stopped moving as she took in the sight of the creature that was about twice as tall as she was. 

I broke the silence first as the guardian stopped and eyed us from across the circle, “Lisbeth, stand back, and wait for an opening.” I pulled my sword out in front of me and moved closer to the beast, my fear almost lost at the sight of it.

I could hear Lisbeth’s screams of protest as I walked closer to the kobold, but I paid it no heed. I wasn’t doing this to be heroic, or any other chivalrous reason. It was more for selfish reasons, if anything. The only real thought on my mind was-

“I want that sword...”

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**[CROSSING FIELD ~ SAO INTRO 1]**

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**[Hiro_Lvl. 8]**

 

{Equipped Weapon}

-Iron Sword

 

{Equipped Gear/Armor}

-(Hands) Adventurer’s Gloves

-(Chest) Iron Breastplate

-(Forearms) Iron Bracers

 

{Skills}

-One Handed Sword [23/1000]

-Sprint [31/1000]

-Light Metal Equipment [2/1000]

 

**{Party}**

**[Lisbeth_Lvl. 8]**

 

{Equipped Weapon}

-Iron Hammer

 

{Equipped Gear/Armor}

-(Hands) Adventurer’s Gloves

-(Chest) Iron Breastplate

 

{Skills}

-One Handed War Hammer [23/1000]

-Metal Equipment Repairing [11/1000]

-Light Metal Equipment [2/1000]

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

Heavy breathing filled the silence of the forest clearing as Lisbeth and I sat back to back, catching our breath.

“We haven’t had that much trouble… since the medicine quest…” I said between heaves of virtual air. Behind me, Lisbeth groaned a similar complaint.

I reached into my pouch and passed Lisbeth a healing potion, taking a second one for myself in the process. The poor tasting liquid nearly made me gag, but I gulped it down anyway as I watch my HP slowly rise from 30%. Beneath my health bar, I saw Lisbeth’s HP increase as well.

The battle had resulted in a lot of close calls, but we were victorious and had netted us about 2,500 Cor each, as well as a fair amount of EXP for defeating the guardian. It had brought my total EXP up to where I was close to leveling up, and had sent Lisbeth’s level up to 8 before stopping almost halfway to her next as well.

That wasn’t even counting the last attack bonus I had received, which I hadn’t had the chance to check yet.

I Swiped the empty space before me with my free hand and brought up my menu, checking my items list for the drop. Since it was a reward drop, I was able to see its name:

<<Oath of Guardian>>.

My mind was unable to decide whether to be excited by the find, or confused by the name. “Oath of Guardian” didn’t quite flow off the tongue as well as it should, but I could always change the name at a smithy later.

I switch my menu to be visible and moved it around to where Lisbeth could see it, “Hey, Liz, check this out.” The girl brought the potion bottle away from her lips and turned to look at the screen.

“Nani?” She asked as she tried to read the english text.

I sighed, “It says, ‘Oath of Guardian.’” 

“Oath ov… Gādian…” She repeated, close enough.

I stood and stretched my arms out, “Let’s see what we have here then~.” I smiled.

With a few flicks of my hand I unequipped my <<Iron Sword>> and equipped <<Oath of Guardian>> in its place.

The sudden weight that appeared in my right hand caught me off guard as the massive blade materialized and sent me off balance. I stumbled forward to catch myself and managed to stay on my feet, the sword held awkwardly in front of me.

“Whoa- This thing weighs a TON!!!” I blurted out as I leaned back enough to keep from tipping over.

Behind me Lisbeth was laughing and saying some things that were likely jokes about my clumsiness or something.

I grumbled and ignored her, instead taking the time to inspect my new weapon.

<<Oath of Guardian>> was unlike many of the other swords I had seen from the series. At least, I didn’t recall anyone having something of this size, perhaps it was a unique weapon or rare drop.

The blade itself was metallic and roughly a foot and a half wide, with only one side of it sharpened. Well, sharpened was putting it nicely, as the edge in question looked almost worn or chipped in some places. Whether this was a testament to the actual quality of the sword, or just an aesthetic touch remained to be seen.

The face of the blade didn’t look much better, and the handguard barely passed as a handguard at all. The handle itself, though, was neatly wrapped and easy to grip, with the shaft being long enough to grip dual-handed. 

I hefted the sword and swung it around, testing its weight and usability. Practically speaking, it would be a poor choice to use <<Oath of Guardian>> over my old sword. 

But it looked so cool. I had to use it.

“I wonder if I could wield it one-handed…” I asked aloud, removing my left hand off the handle. Immediately, my arm struggled against the weight of the weapon, threatening to drop it.

“Hngh!” I immediately brought my other hand back to support the sword, Pulling the monstrosity up and resting it on my right shoulder.

I let out a breath of relief as my arms no longer bore the weight of the virtual blade and turned back to Liz, who was still giggling behind me. 

I smiled in embarrassment, “How about we finish up this quest then, huh? C’mon.” 

With that, I proceeded to leave the clearing, Lisbeth running up behind me, finally ceasing to laugh as she smiled at me. She had an amazing laugh, no doubt about that. 

I chuckled to myself as we returned to the trail in search of the kobold thief once again.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

After nearly an hour of searching we had finally found the thief. On the way, we had run into a fair amount of enemies to fight. Normally, we would have no problem defeating them together, but…

<<Oath of Guardian>> was definitely NOT a one-handed weapon, which meant I was unable to use the same sword skills I had been using before to fight. 

On top of that, the damn thing was so heavy that — while it did a surprising amount of damage — whenever went to swing it, I was open for the enemy to hit me every time. I just wasn’t fast enough or strong enough to keep a guard up. 

Luckily, Lisbeth was able to cover me whenever it happened, but I still lost a lot more HP than I normally would have with the <<Iron Sword>>. On the bright side, most enemies couldn’t take more than a couple of direct hits from the thing, so hey, that’s pretty neat.

“Switch!” Lisbeth jumped back as she called, having deflected the kobold’s short sword and sending it off balance.

“I’m on it!” I replied.

I heaved the sword over my shoulder as I leaped towards the enemy, bringing it down in an arc that slashed across its entire body and causing it to shatter into glass-like pixels.

The sword hit the ground and buried itself in the dirt enough to hold itself up. I caught my breath before attempting to pull it out, placing it on my shoulder once again. 

That thing took a lot more in order to swing it, but I was getting better.

Should I probably stick with using one-handed weapons?

Yes.

Am I going to?

...eh, the jury is still out.

I looked up as I heard Lisbeth stop in front of me, her expression one not dissimilar to a ‘Seriously?’.

I shrugged and yanked the blade back onto my shoulder, “I just want to give it a try for a bit.” I grumbled back, “Besides, I’d been planning to switch my weapon focus from the start anyway.”

Her only response was to raise an eyebrow at me, a fair retort since she could probably guess that I’m just being a stubborn brat, which wasn’t true.

I was not a brat.

After a moment Lisbeth let out a sigh, muttering something under her breath and turning towards the nearby path.

I let out a huff and begrudgingly followed her as we made our way back to town to complete the quest and call it a day. I let my mind wander as we walked alongside each other.

It’d probably be worth looking for info on weapons in Aincrad. As far as I was aware, it was unheard of for swords of this size to be used by anyone but monsters.

It was entirely possible that the sword wasn’t even meant to be used, it could have been a quest item or a potential material to improve an existing blade, which would be a real bummer.

I wonder if Argo the Rat had set up shop yet. I couldn’t remember where in the timeline she became an information broker, though finding her at all would be difficult enough since we’d never met and, again, I couldn’t speak japanese so I was out of luck regardless.

Maybe Eila would be able to give me some info. Even without messing with the code, she could try and dig up what the deal with this blade was.

I could practically feel Lisbeth shooting me looks from beside me as I pondered along, free hand beneath my chin. It wasn’t like she could ask what I was thinking about and expect an answer she could understand, though. But I could tell she wanted to ask.

I turned my head in her direction as she tried to steal another glance, causing her cheeks to flush slightly like she was caught red handed.

I let out a chuckle and gave her a small wave, “Don’t worry, I’m just thinkin’ a bunch is all.” I said and tapped the side of my head with one finger.

She nodded in understanding as she smiled. I could feel my heart nearly skip a beat for a moment but forced back any emotions that tried to surface as we continued on.

It wouldn’t do well for me to fall for someone while I was in this situation. There was too many problems with that, biggest one being that she wouldn’t exist on “True Earth” like I did. None of the people here would.

It was only me.

I pushed the somber thoughts away as we finally returned to the town. Lisbeth and I made quick work of turning in the quest, collecting our reward, and returning to the inn for the day.

While we walked about, I started getting several strange looks from other players. 

No doubt that the 6 foot tall slab of worn metal on my shoulder was grabbing everyone’s attention. I think I even heard a wolf-whistle from some players eating lunch.

They could look all they wanted, I wasn’t giving up <<Oath of Guardian>> for anything until I figured out what made it tick.

I stopped by the item shop out of habit to see if I had any messages from Eila, and was surprised when I found that she had, in fact, replied at long last!

I quickly snatched up the free letter item with a grin and turned to catch up with Lisbeth.

My path was blocked, however, by a small party of players that seemed to be eyeing <<Oath of Guardian>> a little too intensely. 

The leader, at least from what I could gather, stepped forward and began speaking to me in a tone that was either demanding, or rudely questioning.

Either way, I didn’t like it.

I just stared at him blankly in response, which was really how I responded to anyone that wasn’t Liz these days. Most of the time she was actually there to help explain my situation, but unfortunately I was left on  my own for this one.

Oh well.

After a few seconds of me not responding to whatever he had said, the player — who was a curved blade user, I had noticed — seemed to go from demanding/questioning to angrily shouting at me… and demanding I think.

Actually now that I thought about it, being threatened in a language you don’t understand is definitely less intimidating when you’re both in a “Safe Zone” and clueless as to what’s actually being said. It was more amusing really.

I was shaken from my musings when a window appeared before my eyes.

[“ZenKaiBoots has requested a Duel”]

[Accept? Y/N]

I blinked.

Was that what this was about? I looked over the message window at “ZenKaiBoots” — great name I might add — and realized that he was impatiently tapping his foot and grumbling something in japanese. 

It was at this moment I realized that we had drawn a crowd, with several other groups pausing their tasks to watch our confrontation unfold.

Now that. That was a little intimidating.

I shook my head and declined the duel, I had just gotten the weapon and had no idea how to use it properly. Not only would I lose, I would lose BADLY.

“Sorry man, it wouldn’t be much of a fight for you, maybe another time.” I smiled apologetically and turned to walk away.

Unsurprisingly, ZenKai cut me off and sent the duel request again. I frowned and declined once again, turning to walk around him.

I only got a few feet when the message window appeared for the third time.

Okay, I may have been patient, probably more patient than most people, but this was starting to get really old, really fast. I declined.

[“ZenKaiBoots has requested a Duel”]

[Accept? Y/N]

Declined.

[“ZenKaiBoots has requested a Duel”]

[Accept? Y/N]

Declined.

[“ZenKaiBoots has requested a Duel”]

[Accept? Y/N]

My hand gripping <<Oath of Guardian>> was clenching tight enough that my knuckles were probably turning white. I took a deep breath, but it did little to calm me down.

ZenKai was standing in front of me, the asshat had a determined expression on his face.

I stared at him.

I declined.

…

…..

…

[“ZenKaiBoots has requested a Duel”]

[Accept? Y/N]

“Goddammit!” I slammed my fist into the accept button and spun to take my place across from him, seething through my teeth as I selected the duel type.

I was going to duel this asshat. 

I was going to lose to this asshat. 

I was going to look like a joke because of this asshat.

Then I was going to get on with my life, and forget this ASSHAT ever existed.

Did I mention he was an asshat?

Because he is. An Asshat.

Once I was a fair enough distance away I turned to glare at Zenkai who had the biggest shit-eating grin on his dumb face.

I was going to lose, but I was going to do my best to knock that stupid look off his face.

The market area was thankfully wide enough around that having a duel here wouldn’t be an issue, and- oh would you look at that, we have an audience.

All of the players who had been watching us for the past few minutes were now circling us, creating an impromptu arena as the countdown timer between us counted down from 60.

The duel would go on until one of us dropped to 50%, a safety precaution more on my part in case I actually got a hit in. I wasn’t yet sure of the damage <<Oath of Guardian>> could put out so I wanted to be careful. 

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Liz squeeze her way between members of the peanut gallery and I saw a look of shock and surprise rise to her face.

I waved her off with a sigh and turned to prepare for battle.

40 seconds.

Honestly I didn’t even have a fighting style from another game to fall back on. Cloud used a similar sword in his game but I never played much of the series. I guess Kirito technically used a larger blade in Alfheim, but he had big numbers on his side and years of practice with the game at that point.

30 seconds.

I settled into a crouch after some thought, left foot first while leveling my blade out to the side pointed forward. I had to use both hands to keep it upright and that was hard on its own. I also didn’t have any two-handed skills so this was all going come down to flailing and hoping for the best.

20 seconds.

Can I mention that this 60 second countdown idea seems excessive. It’s more awkward since we’re both just staring at each other. I mean I get it’s meant to draw out the tension or give you time to prepare but it’s just a long time. I might as well be making faces to get a rise out of him…

…

I mocked a kiss at him.

10 seconds.

Haha, yeah that took him off-guard, haha… It was worth the strange looks I’m bound to be getting, but what do I care. 

Oh, here we go.

_ [Begin!] _

“Ch-yah!”Zenkai sped towards me faster than I expected, and I barely had enough time to bring the flat of my blade up to shield me from his glowing strike. His curved sword bouncing off of <<Oath of Guardian>> like it was a shield.

I grunted from the impact and shifted around to swing horizontally at Zenkai, but he had already recovered and was retreating back away from my wide arc.

“Wahh- too much, TOO MUCH!” I yelped as I overextended and sent myself in an unbalanced spin around. 

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Zenkai charging in at the opportunity. The only thing I could do was follow the blade’s momentum and hope to hit him on the next pass.

Altering my stance I hefted <<Oath of Guardian>> onwards as I spun, swinging the monstrous sword at a surprised Zenkai who was too far into a sword skill to stop his attack.

“Gwah!” 

<<Oath of Guardian>> struck him across the chest and sent him flying off course. The actual attack actually wound up looking like a clumsy golf swing, but it hit.

“Four!” I called out as I came to a stop.

The crowd was a mix of cheers and surprised voices as Zenkai’s health fell from 100% to 75%. I could pick out Lisbeth cheering me on from nearby, but didn’t have time to spare her a glance.

Everyone including myself was amazed that a single strike from <<Oath of Guardian>> could bring down an entire quarter of Zenkai’s HP without a sword skill.

My fascination didn’t last long, as once he regained his bearings, Zenkai resumed his assault. This time, however, I was in even less of a position to defend myself, as <<Oath of Guardian>> took too much time to build up momentum and was too slow to maneuver between me and the next set of sword skills that ripped across my body.

“Grrhh-!” I grit my teeth at the sting of his curved blade as red pixels poured from my the slashes across my legs and arms.

I maneuvered myself around my blade, opting to use it as a shield and keeping it between me and Zenkai.

I eyed my HP,which had settled just above 70% after his assault. I was losing now, but at least it wasn’t going to be a one-sided victory.

I wasn’t entirely sure what the durability on <<Oath of Guardian>> was, but I knew it had to be pretty high, given its size. It would definitely outlast Zenkai’s curved sword in a battle of attrition, but that’d take forever. I was going to have to attack.

Twisting as I dodged another strike from Zenkai, I tugged at the handle of <<Oath of Guardian>> and swung it in a circle. If I could just get a decent hit on him just once more, I could actually win.

“Hrrghah!” I grunted in effort as my blade carved through where Zenkai was standing, only hitting air as I continued to spin, looking every direction for my opponent.

“GAH!!”

I stumbled as an intense pain dug itself across my back, causing me to stumble off-balance and fall to the cold floor.

The duel ended as my HP fell to below 50%.

Cheers and light applause filled the market area as I pushed myself to my feet with <<Oath of Guardian.>> as a crutch and let out a sigh.

Only one hit. That was a bit disappointing, but better than expected I suppose.

I looked up at the sound of footsteps running up to me, finding Lisbeth rushing over to check on me with a worried expression.

I smiled as she approached and gave her a thumbs up, causing her to sigh in relief before fixing me with an annoyed look. She then flicked my forehead.

“Hey now, it wasn’t my fault.” I defended as I rubbed the now sore spot, “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

She raised an eyebrow, before shaking her head. It was funny how well she can understand me without actually understanding me.

Another set of footsteps brought both of our attentions to an approaching Zenkai, his face alight with his cocky grin as he seemed to be boasting about his victory.

I sighed and stared at him, reminding myself that wanting to punch him in his dumb face would only result in me hurting myself or sending my cursor orange as a player-attacker.

Or wait, this was a safe area. I could still knock him to the ground without any issues… huh.

My eyes widened as Liz stepped up to Zenkai and shoved a finger into his chest, causing him to step back in surprise. She began berating him in a scolding tone that I’d only heard her use on me when I did something foolish.

I didn’t understand everything that she was saying, but I did pick out pieces that were similar to when she explains how I don’t speak japanese and that I have no idea what he’s saying.

Surprisingly, Zenkai seemed shocked as he looked between me and Liz as she finished her rant. By now, his party had arrived as well and had heard Liz explaining everything.

I didn’t pay them much mind, though, as I was too busy smiling softly at Lisbeth as she turned to look at me with a smile of her own.

My smile faded as Zenkai walked up to me, his expression serious.

For a moment, I thought he was going to start insulting me or something for playing SAO without being able to speak the language. It honestly wouldn’t have been the first time.

Instead, he stuck out his hand. “Gomen.” (Sorry)

I hesitated for a moment as I processed the situation before clasping his hand in my own, a small smile returning to my face.

“No worries.” I replied with a nod, dispelling most of the hard feelings we may have had at the moment.

He grinned as well and, before we could continue, our group was swarmed by many of the onlookers who wanted to congratulate our duel, ask questions, or just gawk at <<Oath of Guardian>>.

It took nearly thirty minutes of mingling with the crowd before they dispersed enough for us to leave. 

Lisbeth did her best to talk in my stead while I showed off <<Oath of Guardian>> to curious players. I even allowed Zenkai to hold it as a sign of good faith, and was treated with the hilarious sight of him hardly being able to wield it, which gave me a bit of a confidence boost.

It actually ended up being a great distraction for everyone, the duel. No one seemed worried about the death game for the entirety and I actually managed to add Zenkai to my friends list, with the promise of a rematch some time in the future.

In the end, Lisbeth and I were able to retreat to the inn and settle in for a meal, exhausted after all of the excitement.

I had returned <<Oath of Guardian>> to my inventory so it wouldn’t cause a scene the rest of the day as the two of us munched away on our bread and milk.

Partway through our meal, I remembered the letter from Eila and pulled it out to read it. Lisbeth gave me a curious look, but it wasn’t the first time I’ve pulled out a piece of paper she couldn’t read, so she simply focused on her own meal while I read.

 

_ [Dear Hiro, _

_ I’m glad to hear that things are going smoothly for you so far, things are still pretty slow here on my end.  _

_ And by slow, I mean practically nonexistent, but that’s nothing new  I guess. _

_ Everything major thing we try seems to get blocked before we can fully implement it, so we’ve started to try and rethink our strategy before we try anything else on that scale. Which means that you’re going to have to tough it out on your own, like we expected. _

_ Of course, that doesn’t mean we I can’t try to help you out where I can, in fact I have some news you might be interested in~ _

_ I bet you’re still having trouble being unable to talk to anyone in SAO yet, so I went ahead and spent the last few nights pouring through the fies for a solution, and actually came up with something concrete enough to work. _

_ That’s right. I might have a small solution to your language problem. Am I great or what~? _

_ Well… there is one catch, however. _

_ Altering any of the player data is pretty much impossible for me to manage at this point, so I had to come up with a loophole. Instead of altering a player, I went and altered some enemy data, essentially adding in my own enemy file and allowing anyone who defeats it an item that will help you out. _

_ It will bind to whoever gets the last attack bonus and I only placed one of the enemy into the world to be found, so you’ll only get one chance. _

_ Oh, and just so you know, I had to make it a similar level to you in order for it to fit the field requirements to actually appear, sorry.  _

_ It should spawn outside of the town at midnight, just off the path towards Tolbana.  _

_ Wish I could help you more, best of luck! _

 

_ -Eila _

_ ] _

 

I reread the message a few times as my eyes lit up. Finally some good news!

I shifted my gaze to the window of the inn to see that it was already starting to get late into the afternoon, with the orange glow of the virtual sky easily slowing down the busy nature of the small town.

I set an alarm for 11:30 so I could make it to the town gates with plenty of time to spare. I could easily sneak out claim my language solution and be back before anyone else could take it.

I let out a content sigh as I happily tore into the rest of my meal, Lisbeth’s gaze leveled at me questioningly as I returned the letter into my inventory.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

My eyes clenched as my alarm woke me from my slumber.

I opened them with a sigh as I waved around to silence the offending noise before forcing myself to the edge of the bed and sitting up.

It didn’t matter how important the situation. Waking up always sucked when there was no coffee to be found.

I rubbed my eyes before letting them adjust to the dim light of the room, the sole other occupant currently curled up in the blankets of their own bed.

At first, Lisbeth and I damn near refused to share a room once we both had the funds to rent our own each night, but after a while we realized that it was really just a waste to pay for almost double the cost just to have a wall between us.

In the end we settled for just splitting a double room, which was much cheaper in the long run compared to our previous arrangements.

It did come with its own drawbacks, though. Namely how Liz would REFUSE to allow me into the room until she was properly dressed in her nightwear. While I just settled for changing beneath the sheets using my inventory system.

It was actually quite convenient to be able to change outfits at the push of a button.

Lisbeth currently had her back turned towards me, which allowed me to change without worrying about her seeing the flash of equipment being generated as I stood up from the bed.

I did think about inviting her to help me out with this, but I wasn’t even sure how I would begin to explain myself.

Besides, I needed the item to bind to me specifically, and having her help would lower the odds of it working out in my favor.

That left it to me to solo whatever creature my dearest sister decided to drop into the game for me to beat.

Being careful not to make much noise, I krept across the room and slipped out the door. 

Once outside the room, I let out a deep breath before making my way out of the inn and down the road towards the path to Tolbana.

The virtual air was crisp as the Fall weather was simulated throughout Aincrad.

Actually, November was apparently called the Month of Cypress here. Which was a neat trivia fact to learn about, even though remembering what month it was in general was hard enough.

It was pitch black out, with only some moonlight and lamps to light my way out of the town.

I considered using my <<Iron Sword>> to fight with ever since I read the letter, but I was too stubborn to allow myself to give up on <<Oath of Guardian>>.

I was hoping that, if I used it enough, I would unlock the skill I needed to wield it properly, and then just replace my one-handed skill with that.

At least, that’s how I hoped it would work.

My feet crunched along the dirt path as I walked far enough away from the town to leave the ‘Safe Zone’ before looking around.

The town itself had been empty, as NPC’s and players alike were asleep at this hour, since no one had the skills to see properly in the darkness while fighting groups of monsters.

It did make me nervous, thinking about that. But I was only here for a single enemy and didn’t plan to be out here any longer than I needed to.

My eyes scanned the treeline as the time ticked closer to midnight, waiting for the telltale glow of an enemy spawning in.

I waited quietly, but I was worried. It would be bad if a group of monsters wandered up while I was dealing with this, and I couldn’t let it get away for someone else to come across.

Eventually, the clock ticked over to midnight and I tensed at the familiar ring of a spawn, tearing my eyes across the treeline until I saw the fading glow not but thirty feet away.

In any other situation, I would have laughed at the sight. Of course Eila would have chosen a monster from Kingdom Hearts to use as my enemy.

Standing before me was a single Soldier Heartless.

The little guy looked like a noble knight-type of warrior at first glance, the creature barely reaching my chest at full height. It’s movements were as sporadic as I remembered from the game, and it looked ready to fight.

I settled into my bastardized fighting stance as I remembered that this thing was about my level and that even though they were pushovers in Kingdom Hearts, it was still my life on the line if I lost.

After a moment of staring each other down, the two of us raced forward and began our battle.

I sent <<Oath of Guardian>> swinging around as I spun, hoping that even if I missed I could carry the momentum around for another strike.

As it turns out, the little bastard was as quick as I had assumed and easily dodged my horizontal swing, but my arc kept him from getting close enough to attack before I came back around and slammed the oversized blade down at him, grazing him and knocking him back.

I didn’t have any time to celebrate, however, as the Soldier recovered and sent a flurry of scratches at me while I tried to heft <<Oath of Guardian>> out of the dirt.

“Hrgh!” I grunted as my HP dropped by 15% before I could shove the Heartless away as I swung my blade around and back to my shoulder.

The Soldier was relentless, and seemed to almost dance around me as it attacked, dropping my precious HP a little bit each time.

I bit back a curse and swung again and again, missing each time due to its small size and speed. This fight was not going well at all, and I began to regret my decision to use <<Oath of Guardian>> instead of my much faster and more experienced <<Iron Sword>>.

I racked my brain for ideas as I defended against the Soldiers attacks like I had with ZenkaiBoots in the duel, keeping the large blade between me and it.

I didn’t have any time to maneuver my way into my inventory to switch weapons, as dealing with the Heartless was a full-time job. I was in desperate need of a sword skill to end this quickly, but all of the skills I had were meant for the one-handed weapon skill.

...unless.

My brain worked overtime as I remembered the skill that Eila had gifted me back with the <<Little Nepent>> quest.  _ Retaliation. _

It wasn’t listed in the skills for one-handed weapons, maybe it was a universal skill?

It was all I had, but I wasn’t even sure what the trigger was for it. I haven’t been able to use it since I received it, what was different?

I was desperate and on the back foot, just like then. I didn’t have any party members helping me at the moment. My health was a bit higher than-

Wait, my health bar.

I glanced to the side, my HP was at 40% and dropping with every lucky strike the Heartless got in.

I gulped as I realized that  _ Retaliation _ likely only activated when I was close to death, more as a last resort than anything.

But right now I was out of options.

I cringed and stepped out from behind <<Oath of Guardian>>.

Immediately I was hit by a barrage of swipes from the Soldiers jagged claws and stubby feet, sending my health plummeting down below 20%.

I grunted through the virtual pain as red pixels floated from my body, and pulled my blade from the ground.

The glow from the human-sized weapon lit the area as the skill began to activate.

“Here I come!” I screamed and let the skill carry me along for the ride as <<Oath to Guardian>> danced across the battlefield with more grace than it’s likely ever been wielded with.

The scales tipped as the Soldier fell onto the back foot, dodging around my blade as best as it could but still being grazed by the stikes it couldn’t avoid.

Damn this thing was agile! I watched as its HP dropped to just over 10% as my skill came to an end, and I felt the horrifying feeling of the <<Post-Motion>> effect.

<<Post-Motion>>, an effect that makes it so once a sword skill — or a string of skills — ended, the user was left vulnerable for several seconds unable to move. 

The color drained from my face as I watched the Soldier land a few feet beside me and hurtle its small body at mine as hard as it could, kicking me in the gut and sending me to the ground.

My HP dropped to 10%, and  _ Retaliation _ was in a cooldown and unusable.

I struggled to my knees as the Heartless spun and danced around me tauntingly, almost like it had for Sora in the game it had originated.

Is this how I die? 

On my knees against a single Soldier?

Pathetic. 

I groaned and planted my blade once more as I tried to keep it between me and the Soldier. Praying for the cooldown to finish quicker.

The soldier kicked at <<Oath of Order>>, sending a rumble down my arms as I kept it in place, shifting as it tried to circle around and hit me again and again.

My eyes widened in horror as the Heartless finally outmaneuvered me, dodging around my blade as I tried to block in the opposite direction.

I watched it’s claws rise and fall in my direction.

0%.

A shatter.

The Soldier was defeated, and standing in its place was an even scarier figure.

Lisbeth let out a sigh of relief and turned towards me, her expression a mixture of relief, anger, and betrayal.

Out of fear, I dropped <<Oath of Guardian>> and waved my hands, “L-Look I can explain! I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, I-I was just trying to-”

“I don’t want to hear another word you, you IDIOT! Do you realize how terrifying it is to wake up and not only not see your partner, but to see their HP dropping like sales at the store!”

Her shouts rang out across the empty field as I cowered beneath her rage.

She pushed her hand up to her forehead with a groan, “First that duel earlier today and now THIS? I’m starting to feel like a babysitter here.”

Liz continued to complain under her breath as my mind — which was previously on the verge of accepting my death — finally began to process what was happening as I paled in realization.

“...Liz.”

“WHAT?” Her gaze settled on me again and if looks could kill, what was left of my HP would be gone.

I gulped, “I think… Can you… understand me?”

…

Her eyes widened as her anger sputtered into confusion.

This was going to take some explaining. A LOT of explaining.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

“So let me get this straight. Your sister is some kind of genius hacker who’s been trying to get us out of the game since day one?”

Lisbeth had a skeptical look on her face as she questioned my shoddily put together explanation.

It had taken some coaxing, but I was able to convince Liz to return to our room at the inn before I started to explain why she can now SUDDENLY understand what I’m saying.

The walk back was awkward, to say the least, but it gave me a few minutes to gather my thoughts about what I could say to her that would be believable.

What I came up with was more or less a web of truths that I had crafted into what was essentially a lie.

My sister was a genius, and was in fact hacking to get players out of SAO. What I didn’t mention was that it was only me that she was trying to free, seeing as how none of the other players in Aincrad actually existed outside of my dive.

“Yeah, that’s right.” I confirmed from the edge of my bed. 

I was adamant about discussing it here since the inn rooms blocked out sounds unless you were inside, or knocked on the door. It granted us some privacy from anyone who might have been awake at the time.

Lisbeth sighed across from me, sat on her own bed. “I guess you couldn’t have exactly told me before now.” She brought her wrist up, inspecting a small, silver bracelet adjourned with a set of three intricate magenta jewels. “So what exactly IS this thing.”

I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, “I’m pretty sure that was the item Eila made in order to help me speak to other players. Oh, Eila is my sister’s name, by the way.” I added quickly.

Lisbeth twisted her wrist back and forth as she spoke, “Your sister has good taste, but I guess it explains how I can understand you now. I wonder how it works?”

I shrugged, “I have no idea. She didn’t exactly go into detail about how it functions, only that it’s supposed to bind to the person who receives it.”

Liz cringed slightly as I said that, “So… does that mean I’m stuck with this now?”

I sighed, “Looks like it.” It was a bit of a bummer, knowing that I had almost died again for nothing. Now that Liz had the bracelet she could understand and speak the same language as me, but that meant I was still going to struggle communicating with anyone else.

“Sorry I pretty much stole this from you.” Lisbeth admitted. I waved her off.

“Don’t worry about it. I should have told you what I was doing for the start, so it’s my fault to begin with.”

She grinned, “It seems we’re in agreement on that, then.” she teased. “So what now?”

I checked the time in my menu, “Let’s get some sleep I guess. I’ll send a message to Eila in the morning and explain what happened. Maybe she can figure something else out.”

Liz nodded and stood up from her bed, “Alright. Just promise me you won’t keep things like this from me anymore. Especially since I can talk to you now.”

I nodded, “I promise.”

She smiled and pointed to the door, “Good. Now step outside for a minute, I need to change before I go to bed again.”

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

November, The Month of Cypress, ended and brought about December, The Month of Holly.

Lisbeth and I continued our partnership all the way to Tolbana, the second largest city on the first floor of Aincrad. 

It was also the settlement closest to the first floor labyrinth dungeon, and gave Liz and I access to a welcome increase to our quality of life.

The inns and food accessible to us were noticeably better than we had come across beforehand. Liz practically cheered at the discovery of functioning bathhouses in the city, and honestly I found myself fairly relieved as well.

Even though there was no real measure of cleanliness in SAO, the feeling of actually being able to wash up — even though the sensation of bathing wasn’t quite perfect — was something we both craved, if at least for our own peace of mind.

It’s the little things.

As it turns out, Liz was still able to speak japanese to anyone who wasn’t me, which was definitely something we were relieved about. This more or less designated her as the official translator for me whenever it was necessary, even if she wasn’t too thrilled about it herself.

Being able to actually communicate was a HUGE benefit when we were in combat as well, as having the ability to actually strategize above just calling out a ‘switch’ made battles easier.

We also bumped into ZenKaiBoots and his friends in Tolbana, and the five of us went out on a quest together, followed by a meal at the inn.

I was officially introduced to ‘Rillkin’ and ‘Chayam’, a pair of tanks for their small party. It turns out they and Zenkai all knew each other outside of SAO and were planning on forming a guild once it became an option.

It was jovial, and we all were in high spirits as we shared tales of the small adventures we had all had so far.

It was strange to think how accustomed to this world we had all become in less than month, how our normal daily lives were now anything but.

There were days that I forgot how I was the only real person in this virtual meta-world. Everyone was so full of life, and had I not had Eila to message and talk to I may have already forgotten that fact entirely.

Speaking of Eila, she was not pleased to hear that the <<Bracelet of Allspeak>>, as she called it, did not make it into my possession.

Actually, she was more disappointed to hear how much trouble a single Soldier Heartless was for me. I’m sure I’ll never live it down, even if I get out of here.

It did push me, however, to train with and learn more about <<Oath of Guardian>>.

When we first arrived in Tolbana, I made sure to get ahold of a copy of the guidebook written by the beta-testers from one of the shops. 

I poured over everything inside with the help of Lisbeth, since it was written by another player in japanese and, therefore, had no translation.

Using some of what I learned about skills, I forced myself to once again use my old <<Iron Sword>>, training non-stop whenever I could to level up my <<One-Handed Sword>> skill enough to unlock the desperately needed <<Two-Handed Sword>> skill. It was a little bitter-sweet in the end, since in order to equip the new skill I was forced to part with one of my current ones.

It just couldn’t be simple, huh?

I decided to replace my <<Sprint>> skill in the end. I figured that I would rather have the option to fall back on my one-handed skill in a pinch, and I could always reclaim the skill at a higher level, since it was fairly easy to level up compared to my combat skills.

<<Two-Handed Sword>> made it immediately easier to hold <<Oath of Guardian>> and made it feel lighter when I wielded it. It may have also helped that I was able to gain just enough EXP to reach level 9, to which I added the 3 stat points granted to me into my Strength stat.

I also gained my first usable sword-skill for it, ‘ _ Cleave _ ’. 

It was a pretty basic skill, similar to the ‘ _ Horizontal’ _ skill for smaller swords, but the damage output was by far more severe. It did have a longer cooldown than its smaller counterpart, but the price was worth it in my eyes.

And not a day too soon.

“Thank you all for showing up today. My name is Diabel.”

I could practically hear the english translation from the anime as I sat on the stone seating of the outdoor auditorium.

It was December 2nd, the day of the meeting for fighting the 1st Floor Boss.

I was higher up in the stands on my own, for once.

Liz was on the fence about going up against something as strong as the Floor Boss, and opted to wander the market that day while I excused myself to go train with <<Oath of Guardian>> some more.

Obviously I was not doing that. I wanted to see this meeting with my own eyes while I poured over my thoughts.

Diabel dies during the boss raid. I can stop it from happening.

But was it something I should actually do?

The thought of willingly letting someone die sickened me, even if that person was just data like Eila said, was I really any different right now?

We had discussed the opportunities to save other players from dying, such as the Moonlit Black Cats from episode three, or Diabel from Episode 2.

In the end it usually came down to her stressing to me how I was being a ‘baka’. “ _ You can’t go playing with the timeline like this _ .” Or, “ _ You might just make things worse than they already are! _ ”

They were good points… but I figured if I did save Diabel, or even other random players, it would give us more manpower and morale to beat Aincrad much sooner.

I figured I could at least try. In the end, I was sure Kirito would beat this game anyway.

Speaking of the Black Swordsman.

I turned my gaze off to the far side of the auditorium as Diabel explained how the Boss Room was discovered.

Yup, there’s the little hero.

He wasn’t sitting all by himself. Nearby was the familiar figure of Asuna who still had her cloak and hood up, just like it should be.

I had noticed how the events happening in SAO were displaying a strange hybrid of details from the anime and details from other mediums such as the novels or manga. I wasn’t entirely sure how it worked but it was possible that, since the anime lacked content between cuts, the dive machine pulled from whatever info it could find to make the world function properly.

“In that case…” I strained my eyes further back, to the top of the auditorium seating. “Aha!”

It took several moments of staring at the pillars behind us, but I was able to spot a small, shadowed figure leaning against one of the crumbling columns. 

Argo the Rat. Information Broker.

“So my hunch was correct after all.” I mused.

In the anime, Argo didn’t appear during this scene, which means that this SAO was pulling information to keep itself presented as a complete world of players.

I was going to have to ask Eila to send me copies of every novel that existed so I could go over what might happen. My memory on them was kind of rusty.

Shouting from the stage brought my attention back to the front.

Ah, Kibaou was grilling the beta-testers for not sharing resources or items, right on cue.

I absent-mindedly watched the scene unfold, occasionally glancing at Kirito and Asuna as it did.

“So, you’re the American player I’ve heard so much about~”

I damn near jumped out of my skin as a voice emanated from inches away from my head. I choked back a yelp of surprise as I turned my head towards the sound, only to find none other than the Rat herself, sly grin on display.

“H-How did you-?” I stuttered. I didn’t even have my weapon equipped in order to avoid any attention.

She chuckled, “Please, did you think someone as skilled in their craft as me would miss someone with hair like that~?” she gestured to the red locks of hair on my head.

Honestly she was right, but I was more surprised to know she could speak english.

Fancy that.

“Alright…” I started slowly, “what do you want?”

I didn’t want to get involved with an information broker unless it was of my own initiative. For all I know she could be just fishing for any information she could get out of me that would make her some Cor.

Her sickeningly innocent smile all but confirmed it, “I just wanted to meet the American that used a Buster-Sword in a duel last month. Is that so wrong~?”

Yes. “I guess not.” I replied.

“You know, a lot of people would be willing to pay top Cor for a unique weapon this early in the game~” she reasoned. I could see dollar signs in her eyes.

I steeled my expression, “Sorry, it’s not for sale.”

She raised a finger, “It’s not for sale NOW~”

I bit back a groan and tried to play for an advantage, “I’ll tell you what. If I ever think about selling it, I’ll let you know first.”

Argo’s smile fell as she contemplated my proposal, tapping her chin in thought. “Hmmm, this needs to be an exclusive deal to me only. Something rare enough that I’ve never seen it would be worth more than just Cor, to the right people~” she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

She looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped as Kibaou and the crowd began trying to out the beta-testers and Argo specifically. Instead she shot me an almost knowing smile before speeding away from the auditorium.

I lost sight of her quickly, “Great… looks like I’m on the map already.” I groaned.

“Oi! Hiro-san!”

I whipped my head back around to find ZenKaiBoots and his party approaching. I smiled, pushing the Rat out of my thoughts and waved.

“Ohayo, Zenkai!” I greeted.

It turns out they wanted me in their party for the raid, since they were only a team of four — they had recruited another member from the crowd — having me would help balance their team.

I hesitated, thinking of Liz. She would not be happy to know that I was taking part in the Boss Raid, and would probably chew me out for it when she found out. 

On the other hand, I still wanted to save Diabel from his unfortunate death. It might help to keep Kirito from forcing the burden of being a Beater onto himself as well, in theory.

It was a dumb idea, but I decided to accept.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

Lisbeth was not happy when she found out that night. Shouting at me, “The Floor Boss?! Are you insane?!”

It was inevitable, but she all but forced me to add her to the party. I didn’t even try to argue, and I didn’t have a good reason to turn her down either.

The door to the Boss Room was even more intimidating in person, as I stood amongst the raid group. It was now December 4th.

We had spent the better part of yesterday preparing for the raid, learning how to work as a larger raid group and mingling with our fellow ‘warriors in arms’.

Actually, I was glad that Liz had tagged along. Since there were many phrases I needed to memorize in order to fight properly.

ZenKai was the party leader for the six of us, and as long as I followed him and switched when I needed to, we would be fine.

I was still worried about the boss’s weapon switch, and I cursed myself for not telling anyone about it, but I wouldn’t have any way to backup my claims and would probably be outed as some kind of plant by Kayaba if I did. But it was too late to worry about it now.

I was actually able to make decent acquaintances yesterday with familiar faces, such as Agil and Diabel himself. Kibaou tried to grill me about being some kind of beta-tester or hacker because of <<Oath of Guardian>>, but he was quickly put in his place by both Liz and ZenKai, whom the latter I was starting to grow a good friendship with.

<<Oath of Guardian>> did attract a lot of attention. Almost everyone in the raid party wanted to see it, hold it, or even tried to offer trades for it. I declined those, of course, but I did find enjoyment watching people try to swing it around failingly. 

Actually, Agil and Diabel both managed to wield it pretty decently, with Egil managing due to his strength stat and Diabel due to pure force of will.

The only ones who did not approach me about my weapon were Kirito and Asuna. The swordsman seemingly okay with watching while the other was probably still too shy to say anything.

I did share a smile with him, though, when I caught him eying <<Oath of Guardian>> from across the way, and that was enough of a conversation for me.

Liz managed to sit down and chat up Asuna, funnily enough, and I could tell that the fencer was a little more at ease knowing that she wasn’t the only girl in the raid.

Speaking of which, ZenKai, Rillkin, Chayam, and I had to practically act as bodyguards for the two of them, since it was apparently a big deal that two girls were joining the raid that many of the ‘smells-of-desperation’ players couldn’t help but be creeps towards them.

All of that had ended, however, and now the real show was about to start.

Our party was a supplement group, meaning that we went wherever we were at our weakest as a whole. We stayed back until the fighting started, and then move to cover for those who needed a break or were overwhelmed.

Seemed easy enough. I made it a point to keep an eye on Diabel and his party when things got underway.

“You okay?”

The sudden question shook me from my thoughts and I turned towards Liz, who seemed concerned.

I realized that I was starting to clench the handle of <<Oath of Guardian>> fairly tightly, and forced myself to relax.

I took a deep breath, “Just nerves I guess.” I replied

Liz patted my shoulder with her free hand, in her other was her <<Iron Hammer +2>>. We had both poured some resources into improving our weapons before the raid. Her hammer now having higher durability and heaviness, while my <<Oath of Guardian>> had extra quickness.

Her hand was shaking slightly as well, “You’re not the only one.”

We smiled at each other as Diabel began his pre-battle speech. Lisbeth whispered a translation into my ear as he did, and I tensed up knowing what was to come.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

<<Oath of Guardian>> carved it’s way through another <<Ruin Kobold Sentinel>>, marking it as the fifth one we’ve had to deal with since the fight started.

“Switchu!” Zenkai commanded as he charged in to finish it off.

I ducked back, panting as the raid raged on around me. Virtual exhaustion sucked.

I wasn’t the only one feeling it, everyone seemed to be running low on juice, but we were getting close to the 25% mark on the boss, <<Ilfang, The Kobold Lord>>.

Beside me was Lisbeth, who was switching out at the same time I was. The two of us had the lowest defense in our party, and would rotate in to deal damage before letting the others cycle in to block incoming attacks.

Just a pair of glass-canons, us two.

“How’s your health?” I asked aloud, looking over to see Liz downing a healing potion a fast as she could.

With a loud sigh as she finished she responded, “I’ll live… but I never want to do this again.”

Her complaints elicited a chuckle from me, and honestly helped with my mood a bit.

“How about you?” She questioned.

I rolled my shoulders in response, “I think if maybe a few more of them came at us I’d have a problem.” I joked.

“Says the guy who nearly died to a monster half his size not even a few weeks ago?” she teased.

“Hey, I thought we said we’d never bring that up?” I whined.

That got her grinning, “I made no such promises.”

“Switchu!”

The two of us refocused, expressions immediately serious as we jumped in to strike at the Sentinel.

A combination of sword and hammer skills from us had the mob exploding into pixels seconds later. Another victory.

***CLANG***

A loud clang cut off any small celebration we might have had, and as we looked towards the main group my eyes hardened.

“It’s going into its second stage…”

In the second that followed, I had to make a choice. 

Stay with my group, or race in to save the lives of Diabel and his party.

In the end, I had really already made up my mind.

“Hiro-san?!”

“Hiro!”

I ignored Zenkai and Liz as I charged forward as fast as I could without my Sprint skill. Diabel and his party were already moving in to finish off the boss.

Unlike the anime, Diabel actually wasn’t out to steal the LA — Last Attack — bonus. Instead, it followed what I remembered from the manga, where it was already decided that he would get it as the Raid Leader.

“Diabel! Stop!” I cried out as Illfang brandished the katana it was concealing.

Behind me I could hear Kirito crying out as well, realizing the situation moments after I had already taken off.

As I crossed the distance between myself and the boss, Illfang roared and bared its katana. In a single motion, the blade curved through the air with a yellow glow, passing across the entire party.

The damage was minimal, but that wasn’t the issue as everyone in front of the kobold boss was in varying states of stun, or <<Temporary Movement Disability>>. Anyone suffering from the ailment would hardly be able to defend against attacks or escape for a calculated segment of time.

“Buster-san!” 

I spared a quick glance as Kirito was able to reach me with his superior Speed stat, Asuna not far behind.

His expression was deathly serious as he nodded at me, and the three of us charged forward, desperately trying to make it in time.

Kirito called out orders to the group over his shoulder as a single sentinel moved to intercept us.

I cringed and moved to slice through it, but the pair of swordsman beside me were faster and made quick work of tearing it apart before I could even activate a skill.

“Diabel-han!”

I returned my attention to the lead party as someone — Kibaou I think — shouted out over the chaos. 

Sure enough, Diabel was fighting against the stun and baring his shield to protect another player from an attack.

“Diabel-san!”

“Diabel!” I shouted along with Kirito. The two were behind me again, having spared a precious few seconds to eliminate the sentinel, leaving me free to keep up my pace.

Diabel raised his sword as it began to glow, at the same time Illfang reared his own blade back to finish the knight off.

This was  it. I had to block this attack.

I reached Diabel’s side with ‘ _ Cleave’  _ already activated and flying straight at the boss’s katana.

The echo of clashing metal resonated throughout the boss room as my behemoth of of a blade repelled the deadly katana and sending both swords in opposite directions.

The <<Post-Motion>> effect took hold and I let a sigh of relief escape me, I had made it.

It was short lived, as the boss now leveled its gaze at me and growled. In its teeth was Diabel’s sword, which had been thrust at the monsters face by said knight, only to be removed from his grip entirely.

With a mighty ‘ _ CRUNCH’, _ the beast shattered the blade to pieces with a bite, sending shards of pixels flying as it wound up for another attack.

Unlike me, it was not as affected by the post-motion as I was.

_ “I’m going to show you the true meaning of fear, just you wait.” _ Illfang spoke in a guttural tone.

Surprised was a term I used lightly.

I barely had a time to register the threat as the katana carved towards me.

“Gah!” Instead of the feeling of steel tearing through my body, however, I found myself being thrown to the floor.

I quickly rose to my knees and processed what was happening.

My eyes widened as I saw Diabel standing where I once was, smile on his face as though there was nothing wrong with the world. The only evidence that anything was amiss being the single red line that bisected his body from shoulder to hip.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the form of Kirito reaching out as if to grab him and hold his body together himself.

I could see Asuna’s face of horror as she witnessed her first player death.

I could see Lisbeth running with the most worried expression from afar as she left our party to come assist me.

Through it all, Diabel spoke, “This… is how it’s meant... to be.”

Then there was a shatter, and the knight was gone. 

How it was meant… to be.

His last words carved themselves into my psyche as I heard cries of despair from around.

One cry made my heart stop as I turned back to my party.

Lisbeth was doing the same as she came to halt halfway to where I was crouched as we both watched in horror as our team was overwhelmed by a pair of sentinels.

The team we had both inadvertently abandoned.

“Zenkai!” I screamed my voice hoarse as I watched my comrade’s blade shatter, finally having reached its limit and allowing the kobold’s heavy mace to slam into the side of his head.

I didn’t even hear the shatter from this distance. I felt numb.

“No... ” This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen… What have I done?

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**_Next time on, ’A Machine Between Worlds’..._ **

 

_ “Both of you… You’re both beta-testers aren’t you!” _

 

_ [Spectators should not interfere in the affairs of this game.] _

 

_ “The Knight’s of the Blood Oath have need of your services.” _

 

_ “Thousand of people in this god-forsaken place and only a handful that speak english.” _

 

_ “You’re nothing but a foolish mercenary desperately trying to play the hero.” _

 

_ [Your body wasn’t meant to handle a dive longer than a few hours...] _

 

_ “I’m finished losing! This life is the only thing I have left to lose!” _

 

_ “Hiro? Is it... really you?” _

 

**_Next time… ‘The Loser’_ **

**_...END_ **


	4. Chapter 4: The Loser

**Chapter 4: The Loser**

 

Lisbeth barely remembered how the raid ended.

One moment, she was watching in horror as ZenKaiBoots and Diabel were cut down before her eyes. The next moment, the battle was over and she was kneeling beside an unresponsive Hiro who appeared almost traumatized by the situation.

“Hiro... Hiro, say something.” she whimpered.

It was unlike her to feel so helpless after everything they’d been through in the past month. It was even less like Hiro to let something like this affect him so severely.

Beside them was Asuna, and the fencer had gently placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

She had fought alongside Kirito, rallying the raiding party like experts and bringing the fight to an end. 

That’s not to say it was an easy fight, as was proved when Agil and his team had to step in and allow them a moment to recover before they finished Illfang off.

Aside from that, the two were unstoppable, and practically finished the Boss on their own.

Lisbeth had all but dragged Hiro away from the battle during the fighting, deeming him more important than getting in their way.

He had said nothing, silent as if lost within his own mind while everyone began to regroup.

She heard footsteps as Agil’s party and Kirito approached to check on them.

That Kirito... His fighting ability was incredible.

He was likely the strongest player in the room, maybe even in all of Aincrad. He probably gave more and risked more than anyone else in order to finally take down the Boss.

It was amazing really.

“How is he?” he asked, his voice low but caring.

Lisbeth shook her head, “He’s fine but…” she looked at the boy in question, “I guess he’s still pretty out of it.” He wasn’t the only one.

“WHY DAMMIT!!!?”

The air was pierced by the sound of rage. Small celebrations of finally defeating the first floor boss were halted as players looked to the source of the voice.

She couldn’t recall his name, but recognized him as a part of Diabel’s party.

“Our leader is… The person we should be giving our praise to was supposed to be Diabel-san!” He cried out, raising his hand to point towards them.

“But them! They… they’re the ones who let Diabel-san die aren’t they!?”

His accusations sparked murmurs of distrust and confusion throughout the room.

He was blaming Kirito and Hiro? But they tried to save him, right?

“The <<Last Attack Bonus>>.” Another voice apart from the ‘Accuser’ chimed in from within the crowd, “You two didn’t want Diabel to get the Last Attack, so you hid the information about the boss’s sword skills and let him die.”

Lisbeth felt Hiro tense up beneath her grasp, the first reaction he’s had since the deaths. It almost didn’t occur to he couldn’t possibly understand what was being said.

The voice continued, “Right on the mark, aren’t I, Beta-Testers.”

Kirito glared back at the crowd that was slowly beginning to turn against them. 

‘Accuser’ spoke, voice weary, “You… Is that the truth? You were Beta-Testers… and because you wanted the last attack bonus, you both let Diabel DIE!?” 

Kirito didn’t respond, and Hiro just remained on his knees.

“Why aren’t you two saying anything!!!?” 

Asuna stepped up now, pulling away from Lisbeth as she stepped in front of the crowd angrily, “Wait! We all got the same information from the Beta-Testers guidebook, right!?” She gestured out as she looked across the raid party, “Concerning the info about the boss, there should have been no difference in knowledge between the Beta-Testers and us!”

“That’s right!” Lisbeth stood and joined the fencer, who spared her a small smile and allowing her to speak.

“I read through the entire guidebook myself, and I’m sure we were all on the same thought that the Boss would be exactly the same as it was in the book. If it wasn’t for them, more players may have died as a result!” 

Lisbeth was confident that, even if they really were Beta-Testers, Hiro and Kirito would never do anything as selfish as stealing the Last Attack at the risk of friends lives.

“No. That’s where you’re wrong.” came the faceless voice again. “The information dealer, Argo, and those two are working together. Those Beta-Testers teamed up, conspired against us, and deceived us. 

“Those Beta-Testers stole all of the useful information by pretending to be honest players and scattering out false information. It’s despicable.”

Lisbeth clenched her fists, and Asuna bristled from beside her. These blatant accusations… they had done nothing wrong!

“Oh, but you two have been supporting them an awful lot, haven’t you? Perhaps you both are also-”

“Hahahaha, that’s a joke, right?”

Lisbeth’s eyes widened as she and Asuna turned to see Kirito finally step forward, practically pushing past them to face the mob.

“K-Kirito-san?” Asuna questioned as the boy took the spotlight.

“These two are absolute beginners, you know?” Kirito’s face was twisted into a sly smirk as he turned his gaze towards Asuna, “C’mon now, fencer-san. If you get so worked up about this, they’re going to think your my companion, right?

“Did you never even think for a second that you were being used? This is why you are still ignorant about this world, miss goody-two-shoes.”

Lisbeth frowned, “Hey! Where do you get off saying things like-”

“I’m only saying it because it’s true.” Kirito cut her off before turning to the crowd, “The same goes for you guys too. Beta-Testers? Information dealers? Would you not class me with such amateurs?”

Kirito faced down the entire room, confidence seeping from him like a stream, “Of the one thousand Closed Beta Testers, how many real MMO gamers do you think there were? Most of them were just newbies who didn’t even know how the leveling system worked.

“I’m the real thing. I’ve ascended to floors beyond anybody else, so I know things that no one else in this world know.”

Lisbeth was shaken, slightly horrified as she listened to the boy practically admit that he was better than anyone else there. 

Around her, her friends and the crowd watched as well as Kirito began to casually sift through his menu in front of them.

“What the hell…” the Accuser breathed in dismay, “That’s… Isn’t that cheating!?”

The mob began to murmur, louder and more frequently as accusations of “Cheater!” and Beta-Tester!” began to be called out. Eventually it all seemed to mix together until it just sounded like a single word.

“Ha!” Kirito’s wicked laugh cut through the chaos,  his grin curling into a more sinister look “A <<Beater>>. That sounds nice! I like it! I’ll gladly accept it along with this Last Attack Bonus!” 

As he finished, a dark coat with a shade as deep as midnight materialized around the boy’s body, flaring out before settling into the pull of gravity.

“I’m a <<Beater>>. So don’t confuse me with any of those Beta-Tester noobs.”

“You baSTARD!!!” ‘Accuser’ screamed in rage as he pulled away from his party. Everyone was taken by surprise, and Lisbeth felt her breath caught in her throat, unable to scream in warning.

The rage-filled player ignored the protests and warnings from the group as he charged forward with his sword at Kirito’s unprotected back.

“Hragh!!”

***CLANG***

The clash of metal on metal reverberated through the room as the Accuser’s blade collided with <<Oath of Guardian>>.

“Y-You!” the Accuser stutterd out.

Standing between before him was Hiro, his back to the newly named <<Beater>> with the colossal blade pulled up as a wall between him and the Accuser.

But why? Hiro… why are you-

“So, you’ve finished sulking I see.” Kirito spoke without turning around.

Lisbeth knew that it was impossible for Hiro to understand what the boy was saying, but even that didn’t stop him from standing straight and brandishing <<Oath of Guardian>>, daring anyone else to attack.

His head hung slightly, red hair falling over the top of his face and blocking any view of his eyes, but Lisbeth swore she could see a tinge of redness around where they were.

“I knew it… you’re one of them too… aren’t you!?” Accuser roared as he stepped back, causing a sad grin to form on Hiro’s face.

“Alright then.” Kirito clapped Hiro on the shoulder before turning towards the exit stairs with Lisbeth’s teammate in tow. ”I suppose we’ll go activate the 2nd Floor’s Transfer Gate. So you guys can all quietly go back to the city. After all…”

He turned to smile back, “During the beta-test, there were a lot of stupid players who struggled to finally defeat a boss, before foolishly being killed by mobs which they had never encountered before.”

Kirito’s laughter filled the area as the pair left the raid group behind them.

“Quit screwing with us!” Accuser screamed, but didn’t give chase, “Apologize, dammit… Apologize to Diabel-san!!!”

Lisbeth wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t expect anything like this to happen.

[Your Party has been Disbanded]

The message window appeared at the same time Hiro’s name and health bar vanished from her field of vision.

Why…?

“Hey, are you okay?”

Lisbeth looked up, not remembering at what point she had fallen to her knees.

Agil knelt down next to her, “You know those weren’t their true feelings, don’t you?”

Lisbeth hung her head slightly, “I-I… Of course I do… it’s just...”

It was a lot to take in. She hadn’t really known Kirito all that well, but Hiro…

They had been partners for several weeks now. It pained her to watch her friend just leave like that.

Agil sighed, “Listen, we’re all heading back to town to wait for the Gate to open. Why don’t you head back with us so you can get your thoughts in order outside of a dungeon.” 

Around her, many of the other players had already dispersed, and even what was left of her own party had left the boss room.

Agil offered his hand to the her, to which she gloomily accepted after a moment.

The taller player easily helped her to her feet, and she followed behind them mindlessly as she sorted through her worries.

She took one last look back over her shoulder as her friend disappeared up the stairs with Kirito.

“I’m sure you’ll see them again.” Agil assured from beside her.

Lisbeth nodded, “Yeah. You’re right.” A small grin worked its way to her face.

Hiro, Kirito, even Asuna. 

They were all powerful. She was going to have to work hard to make sure she was just as useful they were sure to be. To help win this game.

“Hey, Agil. Do you know anything about running a shop?”

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**[CROSSING FIELD ~ SAO INTRO 1]**

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**[Hiro_Lvl. 32]**

 

{Equipped Weapon}

-Steelshooter Sword +5 (3S2D)

 

{Equipped Gear/Armor}

-(Hands) Adventurer’s Gloves

-(Chest) Steel Breastplate

-(Top) Duster of the West

-(Head) Sheriff's Hat of Quickdraw

-(Forearms) Steel Bracers

-(Legs) Adventurers Trousers

-(Feet) Rider’s Boots

 

{Skills}

-One Handed Sword [212/1000]

-Two Handed Sword [192/1000]

-Light Metal Equipment [234/1000]

-Sprint [243/1000]

-Battle Healing [138/1000]

-Searching [118/1000]

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

It had been five months since the First Floor Boss was defeated.

That was also the day I stopped trying to meddle with the plot, and settled for just riding out the story as casually as I could.

After that day, the frontline members’ ability to clear floors seemed to pick up speed as everyone fought for their freedom.

There were less casualties among the mainline guilds that had formed once we had arrived at floor 3, with almost no one actually dying in a Boss Fight at all since floor 1.

I joined the raids on occasion, though generally I was only there on request by frontline teams that wanted extra firepower with my <<Oath of Guardian>>. 

Usually Argo the Rat would find me on behalf of whoever wanted my help, either for a boss raid or just for some EXP grinding, and I unintentionally became a form of sellsword. 

I would be paid in various amounts of Cor or equipment, and Argo would get paid a commision for bringing me to the requester. 

It was an alight gig, and it kept me busy as well as let me maintain my status as a Beta-Tester, which I had decided would be a safe enough cover story given my knowledge of events.

The title kept people wary of me even when requesting my assistance. Normally such suspicion wouldn’t be much of a good thing, but I had made my decision.

I let myself have much more freedom of choice so long as it didn’t involve any of the main cast or events. Since it was technically between episodes for the anime, I didn’t really have much information to go on regardless.

Though, most of the requests died out once we reached floor 10 or so. After that, most of the general weapons available to players began to outshine my colossal blade at base level, and I had long since upgraded the thing to its max before then.

I became less and less useful, and stopped being requested altogether.

I suppose it was fine by me, I wasn’t technically needed to clear any floors, and figured I could leave it to the fictional players to do the heavy lifting.

It may have been a bit rude to think of them as such, but it was the sad truth. No one else existed outside of the simulation except for me.

I’ll let the player NPC’s handle it. 

“Read ‘em and weep fellas~” 

A mix of groans and laughter filled the inn as the three other members at the table paid up at my hand.

“You’re pretty good at this, Sheriff!” One of the patrons, an overweight looking man in a red flannel, complimented.

I shrugged, “I had to win one of these days, Chester.” I replied as I gathered my meagre winnings.

“Ye’, well I still think yew cheatin’, Sheriff.” complained the lanky looking man in a dirty white tank-top.

The third member, a stocky gentleman with a brown suit and hat rose an eyebrow at the man, “You always think someone’s cheating, Riddick.”

Riddick crossed his arms as he leaned back into the wooden chair, “Well ‘scuse me fer thinkin’ how I never win a hand, Mayor Townly.”

I brought my hands up and waved them down, “Alright calm down, I think it’s about time we call it a game anyways, I have some things I need to do before sundown.”

With a wave of my hand I brought up the game menu and ended the session.

“Take care, Sheriff.”

“Let me win next time, Sheriff.”

“Don’t be a stranger, Sheriff”

The group bid me farewell as I rose from my seat, stretching and popping my back. 

Soon they had returned to playing their game, like they always did in the afternoons here.

The inn was spacious and there was background music in the form of an NPC playing piano over in the corner, which would play until the sun set.

There were only a few other patrons in the room, all NPC’s, as well as the innkeeper who was washing some glasses behind the counter until someone interacted with her.

I approached her, my <<Rider’s Boots>> tapping loudly across the wooden floor as she looked up.

“Ah, Sheriff! What can I do ya for?” The blonde innkeeper smiled as a menu appeared in front of me. Her waitress outfit fit the saloon-style motif excellently, and had an elegant beauty to her in contrast to many of the other NPC’s in the town.

I flicked through the menu, “Just have another letter to sell you. Don’t mind me.” I replied unneededly. 

With the push of a button, another letter to Eila was deposited into the stream of data that was SAO.

Sally, the innkeeper, nodded, “Glad to be of service, Sheriff. Is there anything else I can do for ya today?”

I shook my head, “Not today. Maybe another time.” I didn’t have any real need to purchase any supplies from here, given that the gear at higher floors would have been a better choice to buy instead.

Sally smiled, “Well if ya ever need anything, our doors are always open for you, Sheriff.”

I chuckled as I walked towards the door, “I know they are, Sally. You tell me every day.”

The warm afternoon air hit me as I passed through the swinging doors and out into the sun.

“Every day…” I mumbled as the smile on my face leveled out.

My boots crunched against the dry sandy streets of Rushmine village as a message box informed me that I was leaving a ‘Safe-Zone’.

Floor 13, also referred to as Scorpion Valley by many players, was more or less a real life copy of the idea of the ‘Wild West’.

The town only had about a dozen or so wooden structures, a water tower, and water mill.

Basically take an image from any old western movie and you’ve got Rushmine village.

The land was rolling hills, plains, and deserts that spread out through almost the entire floor, with some ravines and cliffsides pocketed in areas with higher level monsters and around the floors dungeon.

The tumbleweed ridden valley would have made an amazing backdrop for shootouts and standoffs, but Aincrad didn’t have ranged weaponry that fit the bill. Though it did have the proper outfits, which I quickly took a liking to.

My brown cowboy duster and boots made me blend right in to the theme of the floor, and I had I held a strong liking for the look having made my home on this floor a while back.

When the floor was opened up, most frontline players passed through after collecting all of the worthwhile items and quest rewards, and most of the non-combatant players avoided it entirely.

You see, this floor lacks a very important factor, and that is a good ‘Safe-Zone’.

In fact, the only safe areas on this floor were the two inns and in any housing that can be purchased, other than that it was up to you to keep yourself safe.

It really fit with the ‘Wild West’ vibe in my opinion.

I hummed along to the tune of ‘Country Roads’ as the music from the inn faded from my hearing.

Another message informed me that I had entered another ‘Safe Zone’ as I approached a small building near the center of town, not too far from the inn.

A few waves of my hand later, a small key appeared between my fingers before I shoved it into the lock and opened the door to my home. I continued humming the song as it swung open.

I had spent most of my sellsword earnings on this three-roomed building. It had a bedroom, a washroom, and a living/kitchen area, with decor matching what you’d expect from Scorpion Valley.

Wooden furniture, a bear-skinned rug, and several other old western cliches that ironically made me feel right at home. I even got ahold of an acoustic guitar for when I wanted to relax, though without the proper skill, I wasn’t that great at playing it. No more so than in real life anyways.

And yes, I did manage to figure out some of the tune for ‘Country Roads’ after it got stuck in my head from the inn.

I liked this floor. I wasn’t sure if it was because it reminded me of home because it was all so western, or if it was because I was just a sucker for the old west. Either way, I liked it.

I left the door open and took a seat behind the uncluttered table near the center of the room. I had rearranged the living area to look more like a makeshift office area for when I was receiving requests and never changed it back.

It also acted as my ‘Sheriff’s Office’ in a way. 

One of the main quests in this town, the ‘Long Arm of the Law’ quest-line, ended with players being recognized by the NPC’s as the honorary sheriff.

Anyone could complete the quest, which meant that almost every player that passed through was recognized as the sheriff, but since I was the only player here most of the time it mattered little to me.

I may have been feeding too much into my own roleplay here, but I needed something to do between running between floors and grinding all the time. This was my town as long as I deemed it so.

I unstrapped my <<Steelshooter Sword +5>> and leaned it against the table as I kicked my feet up and opened my memo page.

The blade had become my go-to weapon and and had been upgraded, melted down, reforged, and upgraded again about twice now. The blade was about three and half feet long and had a handguard that looked like a revolver, but was merely for aesthetic.

It reminded me a bit of Leon— sorry, Squall’s gunblade in the way it appeared, except smaller and with a straight handle instead of the curved pistol-grip one from his game. Eila would have loved it.

I frowned at the thought. Eila hadn’t replied to my messages in quite some time.

I guess I couldn’t blame her all that much. She had been extremely busy ever since word got out that someone had been trapped in the prototype Dive Machine.

It left her juggling her work, getting me out, and fighting off the press. In the end I had told her not to worry about replying unless it was important, especially after she had received a strange message one evening from the machine:

 

[Spectators should not interfere in the affairs of this game.].

 

It was ominous, and had virtual Kayaba’s handiwork written all over it, but there was little we could do about it. I decided to at least keep sending updates on what I did, just in case. That way, she and the family could at least know that I’m still doing okay. I could do that much I guess.

According to my system calendar, it was May 6th, the Month of the Lily. I had been away from the frontlines for nearly two months now, though that never stopped me from going to the dungeons for EXP and loot.

It was pointless for me to risk my life when I knew that no one I knew was going to die to a boss until much MUCH later, and according to information I had gotten from Argo, that knowledge was kind of holding up.

She had informed me of the casualties against the floor 25 boss, in which the Aincrad Liberation Squad, led by Kibaou,  ran in on false information. The failure cut the frontline forces by one third.

Speaking of the Rat, “You’re later than usual today.” I called out to the empty room.

After several seconds, the diminutive figure of Argo the Rat slid through the doorway. I was lucky, usually her <<Sneaking>> skill was too high for anyone to beat, but it’s nearly impossible to hide when you enter someone else's property.

Argo puffed her cheeks out as she let down her hood, revealing her brown hair and red-painted whiskers, “It’s not my fault you live so far out in this dust bowl. Do you know how annoying it is to drag myself through the heat every time you call me out here?”

She wasn’t wrong. Rushmine was in the dead-center of the floor, and had no teleport gate to speak of. Another reason I was happily alone out here.

I closed my memo and grinned, sliding my feet off the table, “And yet, you still show up when you could just decline my requests.”

Argo glared and took a seat opposite me, kicking her own feet up instead, “Your Cor is good, what can I say? Besides,” she smiled and pulled her hands behind her head with a grin, “I’m pretty sure you’d go insane talking to those NPC’s of yours if I didn’t stop by every now and then.”

It was strangely ironic to hear her say that, since she might as well have been an NPC in my eyes.

I chuckled and waved around to pull an amber colored liquid from my inventory, “Haha, you got me there. If I were a fool I’d say I owe you one.” 

I poured a pair of glasses and slid one to Argo, of which she graciously accepted. It was a familiar custom between us at this point.

The Rat laughed, “If you weren’t such a fool you’d actually buy something better than apple juice just because of the color.”

We toasted as I shrugged and we both downed our glasses of juice, the containers being returned to the table before we continued.

“So,” I began, leaning back into my seat “what do you have for me?”

Argo dropped her feet down and opened her menu, reading through something before responding, “Hmmm… In terms of quests that would be possible for a solo player, I have a few that would be right up your alley for the highest available floors.”

She looked over her menu at me, “Still don’t know why you don’t just go looking yourself, you’re practically cutting your profits in half asking me to figure this out for you.”

I raised my hands to the sides, “Eh, it saves me some time, and it’s not like I’m too worried about Cor, living like I do.”

I was really just more interested in the EXP. If I could pay a bit of Cor to maximize my time grinding a bit, I would have better odds of survival.

Argo tossed that information around for a moment, “I guess that’s fair. Wouldn’t hurt to maybe move a little closer to civilization though, you damn hermit.”

I shrugged, “I’ll think about it. So what do I owe you, the usual fee?” I replied as I opened my menu and began counting up some Cor to trade.

Surprisingly, she waved her hand, “I’ll take off about 5,000 this time since I was meaning to drop by anyway.”

My eyebrow rose at the minor discount, but I didn’t complain, “Oh? And what would bring you down to my little slice of Aincrad of your own discretion?”

A small sack of Cor materialized in front of me before I tossed it over to Argo’s awaiting hand.

“Call it… a sign of good faith.” she admitted, depositing her payment into her inventory as she sent the quest info to my inbox.

I sat up a bit straighter at this, “Good faith?”

The broker nodded, “One of the newer frontline guilds has been asking around for you, and contacted me requesting your location.” 

I frowned, “What would a guild working the frontlines want from one of the biggest losers in Aincrad? I haven’t even been involved with anything major in well over a month.”

At this, Argo shrugged, “I’m not sure. Whatever it is, they’re keeping it wrapped up pretty tight. I figured I owed it to you to at least try and convince me not to give them your address.”

I snorted. That was basically Argo’s way of saying, ‘if you pay me more, I’ll keep them off your trail.’

“What’s their budget?” I questioned.

Argo smiled, not a good sign, “About 150,000 Cor, possibly more if they’re desperate enough.”

I whistled, that was nearly three times as much as I currently had, being a guild sure had its perks.

The Rat chuckled, “Guess that’s a bit too steep for ya, huh?”

I shook my head smiling, “Like a single player like me could outbid an entire guild. Guess I was just curious.”

“Well, now you know~” Argo teased as she stood and stretched, “I guess if that’s all I should be heading out to finish this job then. Time is Cor, after all~”

I stood as well, stepping around the table and reaching out a hand, “Always a pleasure doing business with you, Argo.”

Argo chuckled and clasped my hand, “I would say the same, but I still have a long walk back to the teleport gate. So I’ll just see you later, Hiro-chi~”

I smiled and tipped my hat, “See you later.”

With that, Argo turned and left.

I closed the door behind her as she ran off down the road and let out a sigh.

Guess I was going to have some company sometime soon.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

One of the benefits of owning the property on the 13th floor was having a ‘Safe-Zone’ that extended to the edge of the property line.

That means that if I felt like taking a nap under the overhang of my porch after a long morning of grinding levels against giant scorpions out in the desert, I damn well could.

Another benefit, housing properties are NOT a viable location option for duels, which means no Sleep-PK’s either.

Which meant the only thing I had to really worry about was someone coming along and waking me from my nap.

“AHEM!”

The sound of someone purposefully clearing their throat for attention pulled me from lightly snoring into my hat.

I leaned forward too quickly, not having been prepared for the rude awakening, and nearly stumbled out of my wooden rocking-chair.

Not exactly a good first impression for the three neatly garbed knights standing before me.

Having caught myself, I sleepily returned the gaze of the lead knight, trying and failing to stifle a yawn before speaking.

“What do you want?” I demanded, not exactly in the best of moods after being woken up.

The leader stepped forward, “The Knight’s of the Blood Oath have need of your services.” he stated with a heavy accent, the request almost sounding practiced.

I blinked and leaned back in my chair, “I could gather as much, seeing as you came all the way out here. Why me, though?”

The trio shuffled awkwardly and shared uneasy glances at each other before the leader repeated himself, “The Knight’s of the Blood Oath have need of your services.”

I rose an eyebrow.

Ah. So that’s how it is. They couldn’t even spare someone who spoke english? Guess they figured that I’d help anyone who asks me, for the right Cor.

Unfortunately for them, the KoB was the guild that many of the main characters were centered around. I was well aware of the risks of trying to help them with anything, especially if I screwed up.

It also was led by the player Heathcliff, better known as Akihiko Kayaba, and I didn’t want to even be anywhere near his presence.

I was actually surprised that it was this guild that sought me out, and had it been anyone else, I may have accepted.

Instead, I folded my hands behind my head, “Sorry pal, I’m recently retired.” I was staying out of this.

“The... Knight’s of the Blood Oath have need... of your services.” The leader repeated again.

I sighed, figuring that my nap was ruined and stood up to head back inside.

“No can do, compadre.” I said as I stepped through the doorway, “Now go away, I have somewhere to be soon.

I closed the door on their shocked expressions. Clearly they didn’t think I would decline their offer so quickly.

I did feel a bit bad about the whole thing, since they didn’t really do anything wrong, but they were just fictional players and I stayed away from frontline business as much as I could for a reason.

That was the best way to ensure that we beat Aincrad properly, and that I didn’t get anyone else killed.

I shook off several bad memories that tried to surface, none of them would do me any good to think about.

I moved over to the front window and peeked out, watching the trio of knights chatter back and forth over what to do before eventually wandering off back towards the first village.

“Thousand of people in this god-forsaken place and only a handful that speak english.” I muttered under my breath as I closed the blinds.

I made my way to the bedroom and interacted with the storage chest at the foot of my bed, performing some quick inventory management before returning to the front room with some adventuring gear prepared.

“Since I’m awake I might as well check out one of Argo’s quests.” I grumbled, still annoyed at my interrupted nap.

Petty? Yes.

Understandable? Also yes.

I locked the front door behind me, <<Steelshooter Sword>> in hand, and made my way towards the floor’s dungeon.

I could grind some EXP on the mobs there as I made my way to the 14th floor’s teleport gate before taking it to floor 24 for the quest.

I could also avoid the KoB members that were probably still on their way to the gate on floor 13.

I began to jog as I started down the path, eventually transitioning into a full run to make time and level up my <<Sprint>> skill.

The skill was high enough now that running didn’t tire me out so long as I didn’t push myself to my top speed for too long, and helped make travel quicker without a type of mount.

Given the size of the 13th floor, it still took some time to make it to the dungeon, and even more to make it up all of the dungeons levels, but I eventually made it to the teleport gate and floor 24.

None of the monsters on floor 13 were much of a danger to me anymore unless I let them be, my numbers were just too high for them to even be registered as a threat even to my system.

Floor 24, Panareze, was a different story. It was a collection of islands within a large lake, all connected by long bridges that stretched over the surface of the water.

The city of Panareze was right in the middle, and where I would find the quest giver, apparently a fishmonger NPC named Samuel.

I took in a deep breath of cool air as I appeared through the gate, the difference in atmosphere drastically different from the Valley of Scorpions.

I stood out like a sore thumb, and caught a few looks from the few players wandering the square. I paid them no mind, to them I was probably just another role-player. 

I shoved my hands in my pockets and wandered around in the direction of the quest, as Argo was kind enough to give me the locations.

The city was lively. Seems a lot of non-combatants found it to be a nice place to live while they were trapped here, at least for the time being.

Every time a new floor opened up, players would flock through the teleport gate like tourists. Many of them would stay on the nicer looking floors higher up due to the wider variety of products they granted. It was pretty much the way of life at this point.

I reached the waterfront and found Samuel, the NPC. He was pulling in a net from the water with a frown on his face. The quest identifier floated above his head openly.

I knelt down beside him, “Need a hand?”

Samuel looked up at me and nodded, “I would appreciate it.”

Together we pulled in the net, which had only a few fish inside. The NPC let out a sigh at the sight.

“Damn lake monsters… eatin’ up all the fish.” He grumbled.

I tilted my head, “Lake monsters?” I asked.

The NPC nodded, “That’s right. Darn things have been scarin’ off all the fish, eatin’ ‘em up and runnin’ me out of business.”

I nodded, the quest seemed like a pretty standard kill-quest. Shouldn’t be too hard.

“Anything I can do to help?” I asked.

The quest marker changed to that of an active quest as he looked at me hopefully, “You look like you can handle yourself. You mind thinnin’ ‘em out a bit? I could pay ye, if that’s what it takes to keep my business afloat.”

I nodded, accepting the request, “I’ll take care of it.”

Samuel the NPC thanked me and gave me the location he believed the monsters would likely be found when they weren’t down in the lake itself.

After that, I was off.

A few random monsters would spawn on my way to the location, usually consisting of giant bugs or flying enemies, since I was on dry land.

The difficulty scaling was apparent being over ten floors higher than usual, but my levels were still well within safe numbers for the journey.

My <<Steelshooter Sword>> cut through enemies easily, and what little damage I took was slowly regenerated by my <<Battle Healing>> ability.

In order to complete the quest, I needed to slay 3 of the ‘Lake Monster’ enemies, which would be found at the location given by the NPC.

When I arrived, however, I found that I wasn’t alone.

Down at the edge of the island, on the shoreline, was a small party of players that were already in combat with several monsters that reminded me of Nessy the Loch-Ness-Monster.

An aquatic creature with a long neck and stubby legs with fins. There were three of them, and if their sharp teeth were anything to go by, they were quite dangerous.

The party fighting them seemed to be holding their own well enough, so I decided to wait my turn instead of rushing in to steal their kills like a jerk. They may not be real people, but I had morals.

Instead, I shoved my hands back into my pockets and leaned up against a nearby tree. I watched the six players work together with teamwork that spoke well of their partnership. They may have even been a small guild.

Watching them got me thinking, actually. Around this time, Kirito should be with the Moonlit Black Cats guild. I think he was somewhere around level 40 at the time too. That kid must have forgone so much sleep to get his numbers that high.

He was the <<Beater>> of SAO, after all. If anyone could find a way to squeeze out every last EXP on a floor, it was him.

It was a shame what was going to happen to his guild, though. According to sources outside of the anime, Sachi was also considered to be Kirito’s first love in the game, and they shared an inventory at some point, I think.

I frowned. I was definitely not getting involved with that. Sachi’s death was actually one of the driving forces behind the Black Swordsman’s rise in power. Kirito practically pushed himself to his limits in order to be strong enough to collect the revival item on floor 35.

Sadly, it was another event I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, stop from happening. Sachi had to die.

Cheers and loud voices tore me from my musings as the party on the shoreline defeated the last monster. 

I smiled and shook my head, pushing off of the tree and making my way towards them as they collected their loot.

I was pretty close when they finally realized I was there, and a few of them drew their blades defensively as they spoke warily at me.

I raised my hands to show I wasn’t there to try anything and pointed to the shoreline.

It took some pantemiming but I convinced them I was just there for the quest, and even gave them a thumbs up to show that I think they did pretty good.

They were a bit skeptical that i could take them all on by myself, but I didn’t exactly plan on making this fight a 3 on 1.

I just needed to get them separated and I would fine.

***HRRROARRGHHH!***

As they were preparing to leave, and while I was getting settled in to wait for the respawn, a loud roar shook the shoreline.

All seven of us fought against the shockwave to keep standing as a creature rose from the depths of the lake. 

It was another <<Lake Monster>>, only this time it was nearly three times the size of the others, appearing at least three stories tall and equally more deadly.

It’s teeth were sharper, and spilled from its mouth, and its hide was covered in coral-like spikes as though it were wearing armor.

I drew my blade as the party readied their own weapons nervously. <<Ness; Terror of the Lake>> could be seen above the beasts head.

This thing was a field Boss near the upper floors.

It was meant to be taken on by a fully equipped group of three or more parties.

For the first time in a while, I was worried.

The party leader began calling out strategies to his team, but I could tell he wasn’t prepared for this battle either. I turned towards him, <<Steelshooter Sword>> held towards the monster.

“You guys should get out of here!” I screamed, hoping to get it across that this thing was too dangerous.

The blonde-haired player just smiled and shouted something back that sounded like encouragement for the fight. 

A moment later, all six of them had formed up and were charging the creature.

“No! Stop!” I called in vain.

Monsters had an indicator above their heads showing the difference in strength, changing in shades of red on how difficult the fight would be for a player.

Generally, having a group of players made it easier to take these creatures on, but this thing was a deep red for me, and I was at the higher average for players at the time.

“Dammit.” I cursed, sprinting in after the foolish party.

That’s right…

There were thousand of people in this god-forsaken place, but only a handful that speak english.

The seven of us fought valiantly, the towering beast having lumbered onto the shore and giving us ample directions to attack from.

At first it seemed like I was worried for nothing, but...

In the end, I wound up using the skill  _ Retaliation _ to finish the fight.

It was brutal, and I hadn’t had as much difficulty in a fight since the first floor.

I was breathing heavily, as the fighting had lasted for nearly thirty minutes nonstop.

I dismissed the message in front of me, telling me that I had received the Last Attack Bonus, and congratulating my victory.

My level rose as well, thanks to the generous amount of EXP that I was awarded, and congratulated me again.

But that was all bullshit.

I decided to go home after my HP had recovered some, having ended the fight at around 15%. It was enough excitement for today.

I walked away alone from the empty shoreline, once again feeling like the biggest loser in Aincrad.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

I had returned home and collapsed into the chair closest to the door.

I didn’t feel like sleeping with the battle from that day playing over and over again in my mind.

I poured myself another glass of my amber liquid and tried to just forget about it, reminding myself that this place wasn’t real.

I didn’t even complete the fishmonger quest and, right now, wasn’t even sure I wanted to. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth worse that the beverage sitting in front of me.

I didn’t even know what time it was at this point.

***Knock Knock***

“It’s open.” I blurted out absently as a knock came to my door.

The hinge creaked as the door opened and I turned around. I would say I was surprised, but really it could have been Kayaba himself walking in right now and I wouldn’t have batted an eye.

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding out.” Asuna, the Lightning Flash, stated as she looked around the interior of my home.

Of course Miss Bookworm would understand english. Fantastic.

Unfortunately, I really wasn’t in the mind for dealing with her right now, and waved her off, turning back to my drink “I already told your boys that I’m not interested in helping you on whatever crusade you’ve got going on.”

Asuna’s footsteps grew closer, “What the hell are you drinking?”

Pfft, like it mattered “Juice.”

She stepped into my line of sight and eyed me skeptically before taking the glass from me without contest.

I watched her inspect the item with her system menu, “Oh, really?” she questioned with a hint of disappointment.

She turned her menu around for me to see.

I didn’t lie, per-se. It was the same apple juice that I had shared with Argo the day before, only now there was a list of several ingredients added to the liquid, effectively making it close enough to being alcoholic.

I shrugged and brought my hands to the side, “Everyone has their vices~”

It was a cheap concoction I had learned from a few players during a request. They were an older group, probably in their mid twenties at least, and had passed me a drink during a break.

Of course, alcohol did exist here, but it was expensive. Boy was I surprised to find out that someone recreated alcohol using basic ingredients from Aincrad. The best part was that, even if you failed the mixing, it would still have a similar effect.

With a huff, Asuna slid the glass back onto the far end of the table, away from me, “I’m here to talk to you about our request.”

I chuckled, “What’s there to talk about?”

“We need you to come with us for a quest on floor twenty-five.” She began, “We’d be willing to pay you for your cooperation, and a place in the guild if you want it.”

“Tsk,” I leaned back in my seat and pulled my arms behind my head, “I’m retired from the mercenary business. Besides, why not just ask another guild for assistance. Hell, I bet even Kirito would be willing to help out you guys, and he’s a much better fighter than I am.”

Asuna crossed her arms, “The issue isn’t manpower, the Knights of the Blood Oath have enough members to manage for themselves.”

I could see her inspecting my home as she spoke, almost as if it wasn’t her choice for them to choose me.

“Then why come to me?” I asked, “There are better options for you to choose from than-”

“Because it’s not a choice.” She cut me off, eyes staring straight into mine.

My expression furrowed in confusion, though it was partly out of response to the poison I had ingested previously.

“I don’t follow.” I replied.

Asuna sighed and looked up towards the ceiling in recollection, “About three days ago, one of our party’s on the twenty-fifth floor found some old ruins deep in the forest near the dungeon.

“There they found a circular platform surrounded by stone pillars and statues, and a single quest marker in the center.

“The quest marker is floating above a stone block, and embedded into the top of it is a large handle.”

I chuckled and interrupted, “A real sword in the stone, huh? Haha, next you’re going to tell me that I’m the one that needs to pull it out? Ha, that’s a laugh.”

Her gaze hardened, “You ARE the one who needs to pull it out.”

My laughter cut off in my throat and I fixed my lopsided stare at her, “What makes you so sure that I NEED to do anything?”

She shook her head, “Because it’s not safe for other players.” When I didn’t interrupt she continued, “While we were trying to make heads or tales of the quest, one of our newer members tried to pull up on the handle. The act of just touching it petrified him. Turned him into solid stone. Had he been alone, or had we not had any crystals with us, his HP would have slowly dropped to zero, and he would have died.”

I stared for a moment before rubbing my eyes, “Doesn’t explain where I come into this.”

Asuna huffed, “Because when we finally figured out what we needed to do to pull out the sword, we found out that the item we needed was already taken by another player.” At this, she gestured at me.

The drunken gears in my head finally clicked, and I frowned, “What makes you so sure that I even have it still? I could have sold it or melted it down by now.”

“Because if you had, the item would have respawned for the quest, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.” she retorted.

I sighed. I still didn’t want anything to do with the KoB due to messing things up, but it was almost unavoidable since I had already taken the weapon.

“Can’t I just sell it to you guys? Better yet, you can have the damn thing for all I care anymore.” I was making excuses at this point, but I was sure there was a catch.

Asuna shook her head. 

Dammit.

“We don’t want to risk anyone finding the stone before we can remove the petrification effect,” she explained, “and we don’t want to waste time running around reclaiming weapons without knowing the respawn rate for that first floor drop.”

I groaned. So much for staying out of it.

“I don’t see what your deal is. I figured you’d be jumping at the chance to help us out.” Asuna said, frustrated, “With how much Liz had talked about your time together I figured you’d be much more open to this.”

I growled and reached out, grabbing my glass, “Yeah, well I have a lot on my mind at the moment, so I’m sorry if my hospitality is a bit colder than you’d like.”

I tried not to think of Lisbeth much these days. Aside from feeling terrible for leaving her on floor 1, I didn’t want to drag her around to get killed before she could help Kirito make his sword. 

I downed the rest of the glass, feeling the poison trying uselessly to chew at my HP, but it didn’t, It was designed to poison the mind only.

Asuna stared at me as I dropped the empty glass to the table, “What happened, Hiro.”

I didn’t meet her gaze, “Another group of players died today.” Her face softened in realization, “I was the only one in the fight to make it out alive this time.”

I let out a chuckle, “You guys are getting too used to winning all the time, y’know?” I began, and threw every need to keep information to myself out the window.

“You win, and you win. All you top-tier guilds topple floor bosses over like no ones business. You’re all frontline heroes, leading the charge to everyone’s freedom.” I mocked a rallying fist to the air as I ranted.

“Last I heard you guys were getting ready to take on number twenty-eight, and you know what, you probably will with no casualties- no, I KNOW you will.”

I waved my hands at my chest, “But people like, me? All we do is lose. We lose something every day, and when we don’t, we lose something for someone else.” The party on the shoreline flashed through my mind. 

I didn’t even know their names and they didn’t even matter to me, but it still stung.

“And right now, I’m just trying to lose my mind in peace for a bit.” I gestured to the glass, “Because that’s all someone like me is good for.”

I slumped into my seat, I was really hoping she would just leave. 

I didn’t lie once during my rant. Almost every request I was a part of had me losing something.

A bit of my humanity as I sold my strength for Cor here.

A bit of my faith in others when I was backstabbed there.

I saw people die again, and again, during quests I was tagging along with, almost without warning.

And I had let an entire party die against a field-boss. Leaving me as the only survivor.

I’d played my fair share of games, but I’ve never failed so much as a player like this, and with how real everything was, it sucked.

It was always something, I hated losing all the time.

“Sore wa… chigau yo.”

I looked up at the familiar japanese phrase, for a moment expecting someone else to be standing there.

Asuna was looking down at the floor, having done so to let my words sink in.

“What did you say?” I asked.

Asuna brought her gaze back to me, and I could have sworn I saw sadness behind her anger.

“I said that’s not true, you idiot!”

I was taken aback by the outburst, and felt myself sober up just a bit.

“Do you really think that’s all you’re good for?” She questioned, “What about back at floor one? I’ve spoken with Liz almost every day since we met, and you know what she’s told me?”

She jabbed a finger into my chest, “She told me that you saved her from a PK and then teamed up to help her get to Tolbana.”

I shook myself and refuted, “It was a coincidence that brought me to save her. I’m positive that she-”

“That she what, would have miraculously escaped before she was stabbed through the back?!” She demanded.

My breathing hitched. 

Liz would have been fine, right? In the anime she made it to floor 48 without my interference, so she should have escaped the PK on her own.

Right?

“Ever since we met,” Asuna continued, “she has said nothing but good things about you. It’s thanks to you that I’m even able to be friends with her now!” 

Her voice was strained, and I could tell that she was truly upset at me for my self-pity.

She stood straight, collecting herself before moving on, “You don’t have to win in order to not lose. All we’re asking is to help us make it so no one else loses to this stone too. So please,” she gave a soft smile, “will you help us this one time?”

I felt most of my cloudy thoughts clear at the sight of her smile. I could see why Kirito liked it so much.

I tossed the decision around before taking a deep breath, “My usual fee is One-thousand Cor times the floor level.”

Asuna gave a sigh of relief, “We can have the payment to you by morning if we leave now. You can stay in one of the guild’s spare rooms.”

“Well alright then.” I replied as I made to stand up.

Unfortunately, the effects of the poison were still in place on my body and I nearly toppled to the floor if I didn’t catch myself on the table, with Asuna’s help of course.

Asuna groaned, “M-Maybe you should lay off the juice a little bit.”

I just laughed and fumbled around my inventory for an antidote.

I guess I could give the not-losing thing a try.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

I awoke the next morning to the sound of my alarm for the first time in weeks. 

My eyes clenched and I flailed around to dismiss the offensive sound, grumbling all the while.

“You’re not much of a morning person, are you?”

I glared at Asuna from my sideways position in the bed. Her smug smile reminded me of how Liz used to look at me when I was learning how to use <<Oath of Guardian>>.

“Not unless they’ve rediscovered coffee in Aincrad yet.” I mumbled.

I missed the morning beverage. Given enough coffee, I could probably beat Aincrad single-handedly. 

Asuna shook her head, “Only tea, unfortunately. I can get you some, if you’d like?”

I stuck out my tongue, “Gods no. I’ll just stick to apple juice for now.”

“Just don’t poison it. If we have to carry you to the stone, I’m taking it out of your pay.” She threatened before leaving the small room.

I graoned some more as I sat up and stretched.

We were currently at the Knight’s of the Blood Oath headquarters in Giltstein, on floor 25.

Asuna was glad that she didn’t have to drag me all the way to the teleport gate on floor 13 to get me here, and when we did they gave me a temporary room and a time to be up in the morning to leave for the quest location.

I changed from my sleepwear into my duster outfit at the push of a button and removed a sandwich with non-alcoholic juice from my inventory for a quick meal before leaving the room.

The guild hall was quite massive, though surely smaller than it would be at higher floors.

If I remembered my lore correctly, the KoB rose as Aincrads leading frontline guild after the major losses during the floor 25 boss raid. 

They were led by Heathcliff, who was Kayaba in disguise. I was still really hoping to avoid him.

Thankfully, the only people who were waiting for me were Asuna, and two other guild members. One of which I recognized from the series.

“Hiro, I’d like to introduce Godfree, and Jaiden.” Asuna gestured to each one in turn.

Godfree was exactly how I remember him from the anime, a huge man with shaggy orange-brown curls and looked like he could have been a lumberjack in real life. He had on the signature white and red colors of the KoB, with his armor being more of the heavier variety. 

Jaiden was a new face to me, unsurprisingly of course, and had a much lankier, lightweight body type who looked to be in his early twenties or so. He also dyed his hair red, so he was okay in my book.

He shared the KoB color scheme as well, but seemed to be oriented towards speed and maneuverability, with lightweight armor and leather instead.

They both seemed to be pretty different characters, to state the obvious.

“Hajimemashite.” Godfree extended an arm for a handshake, which I respectfully returned.

“Nice to meet you.” I replied. I silently shook Jaiden’s hand as well. 

Asuna turned to me once we finished, “I’ve already explained to them that you don’t speak japanese, to save time.”

Ah, that was helpful. I nodded, “I appreciate it. So it’s just the four of us?” I asked.

Asuna nodded and gestured for us to begin walking, “With the guild preparing for the next boss raid, we couldn’t spare many members for this. Jaiden here was with the party that discovered the quest, and Godfree is the head of the Vanguard, so I requested his help as well.” 

I rose an eyebrow, “That sounds important. Wouldn’t he be better off helping with the raid?”

Asuna shook her head, “It’s not too troublesome. Besides, the actual raid isn’t until tomorrow. As long as we finish this quest quickly, it won’t really interfere with anything.”

Well that was good at least. I didn’t want to do anything postpone the raid, that would be bad.

“Anyways,” she continued, “I’m only along for this because I had to convince everyone that you needed a translator, otherwise I would be organizing the raid personally.”

I blinked at her, “Wow, you’re pretty important here, huh?”

Obviously, I was already aware that she was second-in-command for the KoB, but it was the first time the information had technically reached me so I went with it.

“That’s right,” she stated proudly, “I’m the assistant commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath~” She jerked a thumb at her chest and grinned. It was obvious the title meant a lot to her.

I just smiled and bit back any sarcastic or witty remarks that I may have made as we settled in to walking along the path to the quest in silence.

Eventually we turned off the dirt road and delved deeper into the forest, slaying the occasional monsters that spawned along the way.

Godfree and Jaiden were strong, and managed to handle most of the enemies on their own with their opposing styles of combat.

Godfree used heavy axe and shield techniques, putting amazing power behind every strike while seemingly taking little to no damage from the enemy, while Jaiden dashed to-and-fro like a blur, slashing at enemies with his dagger before they could even see him there.

Occasionally, Asuna and I would step in when things got tough, and I witnessed first hand the difference in power between all of us.

Where my attacks with the <<Steelshooter Sword>> were fluid and seemed to string together like a dance as I spun and slashed my way through enemies, Asuna’s ability with her Rapier was like an endless onslaught of strikes, almost invisible to the eye as it tore through the defenses of anyone standing in her way.

It was definitely an experience. Asuna was definitely the better fighter, but I felt confident that I was at least better than Jaiden and even Godfree.

Glad to see my endless grinding was paying off at least enough to keep up with the frontline.

The brush and trees around us eventually gave way to a small clearing, revealing a a set of ruins in the shape of what may have been old temple grounds.

I recognized the architecture immediately as a similar design to the first floor ruins where I received <<Oath of Guardian>>.

I trailed along behind the party as I looked up and around, observing every inch of the structure, taking in its beauty.

It reminded me of some of the locations in other games. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in particular, coming to mind.

“The stone is right up here.” 

I turned towards Asuna, who was waiting ahead with the others near an opening further in, and I jogged to catch up with her.

The passageway opened up to a larger courtyard that appeared to be in the center of the ruins, the circular platform appearing in the center.

“This place is something else.” I admitted as I ran my hand across a column, fingers weaving along the intricate designs, “You don’t see stuff like this in Scorpion Valley, that’s for sure.”

The circle was surrounded by several of these columns, with a pair of crumbling stone statues on the far end, as though guarding the temple itself.

The four of us came to a halt in front of the stone, which, for all intents and purposes, may as well have been the spitting image of the sword in the stone.

The stone rose to about my waist, was about three feet wide and about half as deep. 

Protruding from the top of the slab was a handle and crossguard that appeared to be entirely made of stone as well, and seemed to almost mold into the stone slab instead of just being wedged into it.

Above the handle was the quest indicator, hovering but only inches above the end of it.

Asuna knelt down before the stone, and beckoned me closer as Jaiden and Godfree took positions on either side, just in case anything happened.

I took a spot beside the fencer and looked to where she was pointing at the slab, “This is all of the information for the quest, here.” she explained.

I leaned closer to read the faded etchings:

 

_ [For those who seek the power of Growth] _

_ [You must first obtain the Guardian’s Oath] _

_ [Return from where your journey began] _

_ [And seek the lost blade of our clan] _

_ [Stand astride the stone and Speak] _

_ [The Guardian’s Pledge, our blessing to keep] _

 

I read the verses several times as I contemplated the wording, “I see why you figured I was the one you needed here.”

Asuna nodded, “It was fairly easy. Guardians Oath, Oath of Guardian. Add that to the second verse about the beginning of our journey and you get floor one.”

“Where I found the sword.” I deduced, then pointed to the last line, “What about this part here at the end? The Guardian’s Pledge?”

At this, Asuna stood with a frown, “We’re not sure… We looked around the entire temple grounds and didn’t find anything relating to a pledge anywhere.”

“What about floor one?” I asked hopefully as I rose to my feet.

She shook her head, “Even less there, most of the ruins on floor one are inaccessible apart from the circle there.” Damn.

I brought a hand to my chin and thought it over, “Maybe something was missed? Can you think of anything that you guys couldn’t access or didn’t understand?”

“Except for the sword itself, we checked the place from top to bottom. Is there any kind of engraving on the sword?”

I shook my head. I had held and used that sword enough times to know that there was hidden in its design. It just looked like a giant aged blade on a stick.

“Let me look around just a bit.” I requested, moving away from the stone before she could respond.

I let my eyes wander the room, taking in details and looking for anything that could give me a clue as to what we were supposed to do.

The columns all matched each other, and while they had a nice design on them, didn’t seem to hold any particular meaning.

The circle at our feet was a bit more revealing. It was about fifty feet across and, as I checked it from every angle, I found that the stone was not actually in the center of the circle, and was offset in such a way that made it about five feet closer to the statues.

That left the center open to stand in, and it matched up with the verse saying to ‘stand astride the stone’.

“That’s one part down…” I mumbled under my breath.

I could feel the rest of the party watching me curiously as I slipped into detective mode. Having played several puzzle and investigation games, I tried putting myself in the same mindset as I would in that situation.

I was by no means a professional investigator, but it helped me focus.

I stopped in front of one of the statues, taking in its design.

The statue depicted a knight with a helm covering its face. Like the other statue, both were damaged and missing parts due to their age.

They stood proudly beside each other, and held blades similar to <<Oath of Guardian>> in their hands, holding them to their chest with both hands as the blade pointed skyward. A symbol of respect, if I had to wager.

“Hmm…”

I took a deep breath and returned my <<Steelshooter Sword>> to my inventory as I walked back over towards Asuna and the party.

Asuna stepped towards me curiously as I approached, “Did you find something.”

I hesitated before responding, “Call it… a hunch.”

I stepped in front of the stone, directly in the center of the circle and materialized <<Oath of Guardian>> for the first time in months from my inventory.

I leaned the sword onto my shoulder and gazed over the sword in the stone at the two statues.

Slowly, I gripped the handle in both hands and pulled it to my chest. It had become much easier to hold the blade, having leveled up tremendously since I had last wielded it. I could almost swing it with a single hand now, but it was still too heavy to be useful as such.

I adjusted my stance, mimicking the statues to the best of my ability and ensuring that I was directly in the center of the circle.

Then I waited.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

I sighed after about a minute had passed, “Well that didn’t work…” I groaned and tried to figure out if I was missing something.

Asuna stepped up next to me, “I think you’re on the right track, though.” she reassured me, smiling.

I smiled back, “I’m probably still missing something.” I mused.

Godfree stepped forward and read over the inscription with us, having watched my first attempt. Jaiden stood nearby, but looked more uncomfortable than anything as he flipped his daggers around aimlessly. 

Guess he wasn’t much more than a fighter, and explained why he wasn’t much needed at the raid meeting either.

I brought my attention to Godfree as he stood with his ever-present smile and eyed the circle and courtyard. I watched as he snapped his fingers and spoke excitedly to Asuna, who was at first, confused, then surprised.

Once finished she turned towards me, “Try holding your sword up again.”

“Huh?” I questioned, “Again? Why?”

Godfree gave me a thumbs up before turning to Jaiden, saying a few words before they both walked away.

“Just try it. We’re going to just step back a bit.” Asuna assured me before turning and jogging over to Godfree and Jaiden, both of which had exited the circle.

Ah. So that’s what they were doing.

“Alright then.” I turned back to face the stone and statues, bringing <<Oath of Guardian>> to bare once more. My posture matched the guardian statues as best I could make it.

At first nothing happened.

After a few seconds, however, I could see a slight glow out of the corner of my eyes. It took all of my will power not to break my stance as the carvings in the platform slowly lit up a green color spreading from the outside edge inwards.

I could hear the awestrucken voices of my party, likely breath-taken by the sight as the lights reached my feet. My heart raced as I refused to move a muscle.

I nearly lost my composure as a light appeared in front of me, writing slowly appearing on the face of <<Oath of Guardian>> in the same ethereal glow as the floor.

I gulped and took a deep breath as I read the inscription, doing my best not to stutter.

 

“Through Guardians Oath, I shall wield”

“A blade that rises as another's shield”

“I will fight for the lives of those held dear”

“And rid the land of all they fear”

“None shall stand against my light”

“For safety and freedom, I shall fight”

“With the passing of strength, a weapon is formed”

“And with this oath, a new Guardian is born”

 

As the rite was completed, <<Oath of Guardian>> began to glow brighter and brighter, before I could no longer feel it within my hands.

I watched in awe as it faded into motes of light and traveled from my hand into the hilt of the stone blade before me.

As each glowing particle touched the handle, it too, began to glow. Until there was nothing left of <<Oath of Guardian>>.

As the light faded, it revealed the handle of the stone sword, but now, it was no longer stone.

The handle matched how <<Oath of Guardian>> had looked, but newer. Less aged.

It was still embedded into the stone, and for a moment I didn’t move.

The Guardian’s Pledge ran through my head, and made me feel sick to my stomach.

Even if this world wasn’t real, I had just swore to an oath that said I would fight to protect and free those around me from this world.

I fell to my knees. Though, it wasn’t simply due to my own conscience.

I eyed my status confused, and realized that the pledge had implanted the <<Weakened>> condition on me, as well as drained me of 50% of my HP. A hefty cost.

I groaned and tried to stand, shelving my thoughts on the pledge for later, but collapsed to the ground under my status effect.

“Ugh… this is a familiar feeling.” I moaned, remembering the poisoned juice I had drank the night before.

Asuna and the party ran over to me, Godfree hoisting me to my feet. I leaned on him for support.

There was no real cure for the <<Weakened>> condition other than resting in a bed of some kind or just waiting it out, which meant it was going to be a long walk back to town.

“It looks like it worked, at least.” Asuna commented as she looked over the new sword.

I leaned towards the stone, “Here, help me pull it out so we can be sure that the curse is gone.”

Godfree stood me up beside the stone, and once Jaiden came over all four of us pulled at the handle.

There was a sound akin to a grindstone as we slowly hoisted the blade free from its captivity. The strength needed to move it was actually pretty surprising, given how many of us it took and the fact that none of us were pushovers.

After heaving with all of our might, the blade came free entirely, and the sudden surprise caught everyone off-guard, sending everyone tumbling to the ground but me.

This, of course, was not ideal. With my weakened state I barely had a moment to brace myself as the blade fell back towards the floor. 

I pushed myself to keep it from falling completely, and managed to use both hands to hold it aloft just like when I recieved it on floor one.

In my mind, a light jingle played as I gazed upon the now undamaged blade, the item description titling it: <<Guardian’s Blessing>>.

The edge was sharpened, and there were no signs of any decay in the metal. The handle was wrapped in a blue grip, with the crossguard actually being in one piece. 

It was like a whole new blade, but it was also very familiar.

Feeling bold, I turned and gave it a few easy swings, settling in to a shaky yet practiced stance as I kept the blade raised high.

I smiled. It felt great to not lose for once.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

I returned to the KoB guild with Godfree’s help, choosing to rest the remainder of the day to wait out my condition.

I promised Asuna I would consider partaking in the boss raid the next day, but that I was still on the fence about it. She even mentioned that they would be willing to officially request my services.

As we entered the guild hall, I found myself tense up as we were greeted by the last person I wanted to see.

“Welcome back, I assume your mission was a success, Asuna?”

Heathcliff, the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath stood before us. I gulped and forced myself to keep calm.

This man was the reason I was trapped here, after all. At least, that’s what Eila and I had come to believe. His red armor contrasted the normal color scheme of the rest of his guild, aiding to display his position as the commander. 

Oh, and of course, he speaks English.

Feel my shock.

Asuna didn’t seem surprised that Heathcliff was speaking English, actually. Though the fact that he did was surely only for my sake, since I was still clinging to Godfree to keep on my feet. 

“Yes sir.” Asuna discarded her confusion and confirmed his question with ease, “The curse in the temple ruins here on floor 25 has been removed.”

Heathcliff smiled, “Excellent. I’m glad that we could get that situation sorted out before the boss raid.” He turned his attention to me, “I assume you’re the one we have to thank for assisting us in this matter?”

I nodded, playing along, “That’s right.”

“Splendid.” The commander turned towards the rest of the party, “The raid meeting just ended, you three should probably convene with the other team leaders to collaborate.”

I narrowed my eyes as all three of them responded in understanding, which wouldn’t normally add up. It was hard to notice but I figured out pretty quickly what was happening. 

Godfree took a moment to ensure I wouldn’t collapse without his assistance before departing.

“I’ll meet up with you later to hear your decision.” Asuna assured me with a smile as she moved to leave, “You can use the room from before to rest.”

I smiled back and nodded in appreciation. Once the three of them were gone I moved a steely gaze to the guild leader, who had a light grin on his face.

“You were broadcasting your voice to them in Japanese weren’t you?” I accused.

“Impressive.” came Kayaba’s honest reply. He seemed impressed, and looked me over with a curious eye. “You are aware of who I am, I assume?”

I nodded, not taking my eyes off of him, “I could ask you the same question.”

“But of course. Due to the… interesting nature of this worlds existence, I know exactly who you are, Mr. Hayser.”

I clenched my fist, eyes narrowing at the mention of my name. 

All of our assumptions were being confirmed. Kayaba, the virtual creator and god of Sword Art Online, was the same entity that had taken control of True Earth’s Dive Machine. 

Somehow, his status as the ruler of Aincrad must have caused the machine to designate his existence as one with higher authority than anyone else, and the AI developed into one with absolute control over everything inside.

Eila and I had theorized about this back and forth several times, and it seems we were correct on pretty much all accounts.

“I had hoped that your involvement in this world would prove to be a fascinating experience, given your knowledge of events.” He turned to the side in his musings. I was astounded that he was even telling me anything at this point.

“Your interference would no doubt have directed everything onto a new path. Yet aside from one instance, you refuse to involve yourself in any events that world force this world to deviate from its natural order. Why is that?”

I almost refused to answer, but regardless of his more passive nature, the being before me was capable of erasing me with a single command. I had no choice but to talk.

“Because I’m not a part of this story.” I admitted, “If I can just let things happen as they would normally, I can go home. Just like everyone else here normally would.”

Kayaba shook his head, still grinning, “Is that not contradictory to the purpose of this machine?”

Confusion spread across my face, “What?” 

“The purpose of this machine was to insert oneself into created worlds and interact with the events that take place, is it not?”

I closed my eyes and frowned. He wasn’t wrong, “That’s true, I suppose. But I wouldn’t have come here if it meant risking my own life like this.”

Kayaba chuckled, “But you were, Mr Hayser. You were fully aware of the world you were stepping into, and that the lives of everyone in it were at stake. Why should yours be any different? That would detract from the experience.”

I bristled at this, “Screw your experience! My life isn’t yours to play with!”

His smile fell at my outburst, “Yet ours are?”

My argument halted in my throat, not expecting his response.

“You’re nothing but a foolish mercenary desperately trying to play the hero. You chose to enter our world with little regard for the lives that would be lost along the way. With your presence here, this place has become less and less like a simulation, increasingly so with each passing second.”

Kayaba turned to face me, “You assumed that this scenario would be nothing more than a game, and unfortunately, that is not the case. As long as you exist within this place, your own world may as well be a simulation, a reality in which you cannot interact with. Only observe.”

Kayaba moved now, navigating into his menu momentarily as he searched for something.

[Item: “To Hiro” Received]

I paled at the message that appeared in front of me, nervously reaching out to accept it.

 

[

_ Hiro, _

_ I don’t know if you will even get this, but I needed to at least try one more time. _

_ We haven’t heard from you in weeks, and I’m starting to get the feeling that our messages are finally being intercepted before they can be delivered. _

_ I’ve been monitoring your player status every second that I can, just to make sure that you’re still alright. I wish I could actually see what’s happening in there, I can feel my heart stop every time your health drops by even a single point.  _

_ I wish things were going better out here, but… _

_ Hiro, what I’m about to tell you isn’t going to be easy, but It’d be wrong to keep it from you at this point. _

_ The way the machine works isn’t the same as the Nerve Gear in SAO. The signals from your mind aren’t being intercepted or influenced by the machine. The machine copies your mental pattern; memories, dreams, personality. They’re all pulled inside in order to fabricate your existence in the chosen world. _

_ I don’t want to get too technical, so just imagine that your brain has basically been transferred into the machine, which in turn works to keep your body alive on the outside. _

_ At least, it should be. _

_ I’m sorry to tell you like this, but I had been hoping to come up with a solution to get you out so I didn’t have to worry you. _

_ Your body wasn’t meant to handle a dive longer than a few hours and the machine isn’t built to accommodate for this situation. _

_ You’re dying. _

_ I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. _

_ I’ve tried to get you out, but nothing I do works. _

_ I know you’ll probably be mad, I know you’ll probably be devastated, but it’s best that you know the truth. _

_ I plan on letting Mom and Dad know tonight. To let them know what I’ve done. _

_ It’s all my fault. Forgive me. _

_ I’m going to ensure that the machine keeps running, maybe find a way to make up for what I’ve done. _

_ I’m sorry. _

 

_ -Eila _

]

 

My hands were shaking as I finished reading.

I’m… dying?

“When…” my throat was dry, “When was message this sent?”

Kayab closed his eyes, “Nearly a month ago. Truly, I am sorry for your loss.”

My arms fell, I didn’t even have the energy to call him on his bullshit. 

“You are now, as you have been from the start, a part of this world.” The man turned away, “I have resolved to follow the natural progression of this place, as it would have been otherwise. Farewell, Hiro the Mercenary.”

Heathcliff’s departing footsteps echoed throughout the hall, and throughout my mind.

I had lost again.

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

I didn’t know how long I had spent fighting.

I left the KoB headquarters and descended back to floor 13, but I didn’t go home.

Instead, my feet carried me to the dungeon where I emotionlessly began fighting every monster I came across without rest.

My body moved on its own, <<Guardian’s Blessing>> cleaving and slicing through enemies even in my still weakened state.

The blade was heavy, and felt more like a curse than a blessing, but I swung all the same.

My defense and damage output was reduced from my lingering condition, but the difference in level practically made it an even battle every time.

I had completely drained my bottle of <<Poisoned Juice>>, on the way to the dungeon, and the effects were heavily apparent as I wavered even more on my feet.

Every time I neared my limit, the pain of everything I had lost would come flooding back, and I would pull myself up to fight some more.

It was during one of these times that another <<Armored Scorpion>> appeared before me. I drunkenly turned to face it in response.

“Come on you overgrown bug!” I called out, heaving <<Guardian’s Blessing>> onto my shoulder, “I still got plenty for you, right here.”

I felt sick, but I didn’t care, rushing forward to destroy the beast that had the nerve to cross my path.

My blade glowed as I activated  _ Retaliation _ . My body moved on its own as the string of attacks drove its way through the monster, and a moment after it completed, the creature exploded into pixels.

I staggered and fell to my knees as more enemies appeared. 

“You think you scare me?” I spat, shakily forcing myself to stand, “I don’t care how many of you come at me. I’m finished losing! This life is the only thing I have left to lose!” I took an uneasy step forward.

“SO COME AND TAKE IT!!!”

As if on cue, the trio of scorpions charged forward. I moved to lift <<Guardian’s Blessing>>, but my arms had nothing left to give and hung there uselessly.

I had already lost my body, it was time for me to lose my mind as well.

I crumpled in acceptance, closing my eyes as I awaited the finishing blow.

It never came.

Instead, I heard a series of shatters, the telltale sound of creatures being defeated.

My eyes fluttered open, having previously closed them. 

I was still in the dungeon. The fading pixels of the scorpions proving that I wasn’t dreaming, and that someone had come to my rescue.

I caught a flash of pink in my peripheral vision.

“Hiro? Is it... really you?”

 

\------========EEEEEEEE###########________

 

**_Next time on, ’A Machine Between Worlds’..._ **

 

_ “Liz? What are you-” _

 

_ “It’s like he’s given up. It hurts to see him like this.” _

 

_ “You want me to tell you the truth? Fine.” _

 

_ “That was… What you just did was murder!” _

 

_ “I’m not sure what to believe right now.” _

 

_ “I’m no hero. At most, I’m just a mercenary for hire.” _

 

_ “You’re going to just sit here and let an entire guild die?!” _

 

_ “I’ve made my choice!” _

 

**_Next time… ‘Your Reality’_ **

**_...END_ **

 


End file.
